Compliance officers and business managers need each other, whether they like it or not. The CCO has to enlist the business to own and take responsibility for compliance.  Compliance cannot ensure compliance throughout an organization. If the business takes ownership of compliance, the organization has a chance to achieve an effective ethics and compliance program.  If the business avoids such responsibility, the company might as...

We often hear the adage – “compliance has to understand a company’s business;” “compliance has to work well with the business side.” While I generally agree in principle with these phrases, there is a more important point here.  A compliance professional has to understand a business, the specific business processes, and its operations.  In other words, a compliance officer has to understand step-by-step a business...

The success of a compliance program depends on a number of factors.  Perhaps one of the most important factors is the strength of the relationship between compliance professionals and business.  Compliance depends on business employees to share information, coordinate in compliance procedures, and ensuring overall compliance. As one business manager candidly told me during a risk assessment interview, “if business does not take responsibility for...

Compliance officers have to avoid complicating a compliance program. As in many areas in life, there is a value in simplicity. Take for example a compliance training presentation. If a compliance officer overwhelms his/her audience with legal mumbo jumbo, you can rest assured that no one will retain anything and the training program will not be very successful. On the other hand, if a compliance...