JBS has appointed Marcelo Proença as its Global Head of Compliance.
In order to ensure best governance practices, the compliance office will report directly to the Board of Directors of JBS, the company stated in a notice to the market.
Proença joins JBS after a 27-year career as a lawyer and academic. He received his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Faculty of Law at the University of São Paulo where he currently teaches commercial law. He is also a professor at GVLaw courses of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and has published eight books.
"My goal is to improve the compliance program by making it a model for the market with full internal and external controls which I am confident will ensure a lasting successful company that will evolve greatly in building trust and reputation with stakeholders and, in particular, with employees, market and society,” Proença stated in a JBS notice to the market. "I believe that my experience is in line with JBS Board of Directors’ goals in establishing best business practices at JBS."
White & Case to assist with compliance program developent
The Board of Directors also announced the hiring of international law firm White & Case LLP, which will assist in the development of this project within the company. "The work of White & Case will be important for the Governance Committee’s success in overseeing the development and implementation of a compliance program that incorporates international best practices and fully meets the Company's obligations", said Daniel Fridman, a partner at White & Case.
Tarek Farahat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JBS and of the Governance Committee, believes that these two hires represent important measures for the company.
"These are just the first steps but they are also fundamental to our goal of raising JBS's governance level and making it a global governance benchmark." White & Case is one of the world's most recognized international law firms.
Founded in 1901, the firm was one of the pioneers in working across borders with a diverse team of lawyers from several nationalities and specialties. White & Case serves some of the most prominent companies in the world and has a premier team of lawyers with extensive experience in advising clients on the evaluation and implementation of compliance programs for prominent companies.