The dean of compliance

The compliance program at Baker Hughes is widely considered among the oil and gas industry’s best, and this year’s governance professional of the year (large cap), Jay Martin, is the primary reason why.

Vice president, chief compliance officer and senior deputy general counsel for Baker Hughes, Martin (pictured left) has long been considered a compliance and ethics guru, with many in the industry calling him ‘the dean of compliance’ or ‘the go-to guy’ on all matters of compliance. In 2010 Martin received the Magna Stella award for the top associate general counsel in the State of Texas from the Texas Counsel Forum, and in 2011 the Ethisphere Institute named him one of the ‘attorneys who matter’ in the top ethics/compliance officers category.

Martin has won – and continues to win – such awards because of his command of compliance and ethics law. He manages 33 employees worldwide in Baker Hughes’ global ethics and compliance group, working closely with all operational attorneys to ensure they are properly trained and adept at spotting compliance issues before they become violations. Martin’s leadership in the industry is evident through his appointment as the chair of the oilfield services committee of the Institute for Energy Law (IEL) and his membership of the executive committee of IEL.

In 2011 Martin had the tremendously difficult task of overseeing the rebuilding of Baker Hughes’ compliance program while the company continues its $6.9 billion acquisition of BJ Services. On the heels of wrapping up its own 2007 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation – which resulted in $44 million in fines and penalties – Martin is preparing Baker Hughes for additional Department of Justice and SEC investigations of possible FCPA violations by BJ Services.

He was also challenged to make adjustments due to the restrictions imposed by the drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico following the BP Oil spill and the tougher standards on oil drilling worldwide that resulted. Merging compliance programs and ethical cultures while navigating new regulations that impose tougher standards and limit expansion in your industry takes exceptional skill, but Martin has risen to the task.

His strategy has been to train an extensive network of compliance officers to keep a look out for FCPA and UK Bribery Act violations among the company’s 53,000 employees in 80 countries. He also uses incentives that can help employees begin to see how ethical conduct has been aligned with criteria that determine pay raises, bonuses and promotions. Such approaches have proven effective and keep Baker Hughes’ compliance programs among the best.