Doug Cornelius, in his ComplianceBuilding blog, writes about the potential task to control Donald Trump's conflicts of interest, and whether there is a role for a compliance program here.

Politicians and their staff are prone to conflicts of interest. Legislative, executive, and regualtory actions will affect the value of companies and their investors.

Hillary Clinton failed to address the conflicts between her actions as Secretary of State and the fundraising of the Clinton Foundation. One of the campaign promises of Donald Trump was to tackle these conflicts of interest and “drain the Washington swamp.” Either candidate would have to address the conflicts when taking over the presidency.

Mr. Trump won, whether you are for or against him, and now its time to figure out how to deal with the conflicts. His task is many times larger than that of any modern candidate. He has extensive business holdings, most of which are based on his name and run by his family, and extensive overseas investments.

Perhaps there is a role for a compliance program here.  It’s not just for good ethics. There is a Constitutional requirement in the Emoulments Clause and the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act.

The standard political solution to wealth management for the president is is a blind trust. The trustees are independent of the candidate and the politician does not know what is in the trust. That would prevent the politician from achieving direct financial gain from his or her time in office.

A blind trust will not work for an active business like the Trump organization. Having it run by his children makes it even less blind. It’s hard to miss the investments made by the company when the Trump name is plastered all over the holdings. Look at his financial disclosures. He listed hundreds of companies that he owns or controls.

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