Last month’s column addressed the security organization reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, which has been a phenomenon that has been on the rise. This month we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of reporting to the General Counsel (GC). Most enterprises combine a number of functions under the Office of the General Counsel... the most common include Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Secretary of the Board of Directors and, in many enterprises, Chief Administrative Officer.
Reporting to the GC can be a good fit for the security function. The GC is typically one of the first people in the company to know when an issue arises and is also heavily involved in key decisions like acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, new facilities, plant closings, layoffs, etc.