Calling it an important and high profile job, Viacom has created a new post of associate general counsel, compliance, and filled it with a former minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Henry T.A. Moniz joins the company from Boston law firm Bingham McCutcheon, where he had been a litigation partner.
Viacom President Mel Karmazin told a House Telecommunications Subcommittee panel last week that the company was taking steps to increase oversight of its content in the wake of increasing pressure from Washington.
Although indecency rule compliance will come under Moniz’s purview, a Viacom spokeswoman said the move has been in the works since September and is not related to the Washington criticism but rather is a response to the thousands of laws and regulations the company must comply with.
A number of companies have been beefing up their compliance in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which mandates greater accounting oversight in the wake of various corporate financial scandals.
