Marcelo Zenkner

I built my relationship with integrity through three different paths, and none of them was easy. I began as a Public Prosecutor, fighting organized crime. I learned that misconduct is not an anomaly. It is a choice made by people in positions of power when the system around them tolerates or encourages that behavior. Later, as a State Secretary, I was one of the pioneers responsible for implementing the Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law, Law No. 12,846/2013, also known as the Clean Company Act, in the public sector. I saw firsthand what happens when the legal framework exists but the culture does not follow: the law becomes a formality, and corruption simply moves elsewhere. Then I moved inside companies. As Chief Compliance Officer of Petrobras in the years following Operation Car Wash, I had to rebuild a corporate integrity program within Brazil's most scrutinized company, in the most complex institutional context I had ever faced. What I learned there cannot be taught by any manual: the difference between a program that exists and a program that works is not found in processes. It is found in people, in the decisions that middle managers make in the silence of each operational choice. I came out of that experience with a conviction that guides everything I do today: integrity is a business strategy, not a regulatory response. Companies that understand this do more than avoid crises. They build real competitive advantage. Today, I am a Managing Director at FTI Consulting, in the Forensic & Litigation Consulting practice. I hold a PhD in Public and Corporate Integrity from Nova School of Law, and I advise boards of directors and audit committees of major Brazilian companies. I have trained hundreds of executives and middle-management leaders. I publish analyses that seek to move the conversation from "what the law requires" to "what actually works." If what I write resonates with what you are facing in your organization, let's talk. Keywords: Chief Compliance Officer | Compliance Director | Corporate Compliance | Corporate Integrity | Integrity Program | Integrity Culture | Corporate Governance | Risk Management | Internal Investigations | Anti-Corruption | Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law | GRC | Audit Committee | Board of Directors | Compliance Consulting | Crisis Management | ESG | LGPD | Business Ethics | Regulatory Compliance