José Hernandez

José is a globally recognised expert on corporate misconduct, scandal remediation, and ethical leadership.

As an independent advisor to boards and management of global companies, José has helped his clients navigate once-in-a-lifetime crises related to fraud, bribery, and money laundering.

In 2008, after serving as a partner at PwC, José joined forces with former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to establish a new firm focused on corporate investigations and remediation in Europe. In 2016, he founded his own crisis-response consultancy, Ortus Strategies. He has advised clients across a wide range of sectors in addressing enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and various national and international authorities. José has also served as deputy on a major FCPA monitorship.

His research and approach are documented in the book Broken Business: Seven Steps to Reform Good Companies Gone Bad, published by Wiley (2018) and translated into Dutch, German, and Korean. In addition, he has contributed commentary on corporate misconduct to media outlets including BBC World News, CNBC, CNN, the Globe and Mail, and Forbes.

José holds degrees in Mathematics and Accounting from the University of Waterloo. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Ontario), Certified Public Accountant (Delaware), and Chartered Financial Analyst. He completed a Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration at VU University Amsterdam, where he serves as guest faculty; his doctoral dissertation was titled “Principles, Processes, and Practices of Fraud Prevention.” He has also lectured at research institutions in Canada, El Salvador, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.