Are Compliance Officers Being Asked to Accomplish the Impossible?

Compliance officers are a confident bunch.  Yes, they can worry like all the rest of us, but in the end, they have faith that they can accomplish their mission.

Forward thinking companies are recognizing the importance of empowering compliance officers and relying on their skills to build proactive compliance tools.  Companies are increasingly relying on compliance officers to “fix” the company’s problems – sometimes this mission can be broadly defined and unfairly placed on the compliance officer’s list of responsibilities.

Sometimes problems can be far broader than “just compliance.”  In trying to define the mission and establishing realistic expectations, a compliance officer should always look to the company’s governance structure and operations.  Good corporate governance practices usually will lead to proper compliance boundaries and responsibilities. 

In many industry sectors, compliance officers are now expected to carry out multiple responsibilities, including operational, legal, investigator, policeman/woman, economist, financier and even philosophers.  Compliance officers have to be careful to avoid being charged with more than they can handle, and they have to preserve a realistic role and set of expectations for themselves in the company.  .    

A compliance officer can take his or her cues from the board of directors.  If the board is forward thinking and has a compliance committee, the compliance officer will have support for a clear definition of functions; if the compliance program is mired in the workings of an overwhelmed audit committee which is focused on financial issues, the compliance officer is unlikely to get much help from the audit committee.  A direct reporting line between the compliance officer and the board has to be included in this mix.

The compliance officer should conduct a continuous self-assessment: will he or she have independence, adequate resources and authority?  If the compliance officer has doubts in any of these areas, he or she needs to speak up and remedy the situation as quickly as possible.  To the extent needed, compliance officers must ensure they have access to adequate outside counsel and professionals, if appropriate.