[March 18, 2013]

Compliance Insider® Explores Essential Elements of a Robust Compliance Framework

The latest issue of Compliance Insider®, a publication for Chief Compliance Officers published by The Red Flag Group, looks at solutions to common challenges faced by global companies in the development of a compliance framework.

As legal and regulatory requirements increase, so does the importance of a robust, sustainable compliance framework. Senior compliance executives understand the need to align their efforts with a company's strategic vision and goals to effectively support business growth, but this is often easier said than done.

Effective compliance frameworks that provide comprehensive protection from risk and stand up to regulatory scrutiny have common attributes including:

• A clear focus on a company's real risk, achieved by conducting a thorough risk assessment
• Mechanisms for the efficient remediation of potential issues as soon as they arise
• A well thought out training programme tailored to the needs of employees globaly

A foundational element of any compliance framework, the goal of a risk assessment is to identify and measure a company's risks in order to implement policies and procedures that effectively mitigate these. Whilst it is impossible to completely eliminate all compliance risk from business activities, a methodical, well-documented approach to assessing risk can prevent legal and regulatory action by demonstrating an organisation's commitment to compliance.

Remediation

Regulators acknowledge that it is impossible to anticipate every risk scenario when designing compliance policies, however they expect to see procedures in place that allow the remediation, or correction, of unforeseen issues as they arise. A key element in a remediation strategy is ensuring good lines of communication with all employees, allowing them to escalate issues which can, in turn, be assessed, addressed, documented and taken into account when updating policies.

Compliance Training

It is widely understood that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' compliance framework, however, when it comes to training this message is taking longer to get through. Dull, irrelevant training sessions leave employees disengaged and unaware of the critical importance of compliance. This leaves companies exposed to the potentially severe consequences of inappropriate business conduct by their staff. To be successful, training must be tailored, interactive and should incorporate assessment mechanisms to ensure employees are gaining the knowledge required for effective compliance.

Read Compliance Insider® at: www.complianceinsider.com.

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