Regulatory compliance refers to systems or departments at corporations and public agencies to ensure that personnel are
aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws and regulations.
International Compliance
The International Standards Organization (ISO) produces international standards such as ISO17799.
Compliance in the USA
In general, compliance means conforming to a specification, standard or law that has been clearly defined.
Corporate scandals and breakdowns such as the Enron case in 2001 have highlighted the need for
stronger compliance regulations for publicly listed companies. The most significant regulation in this context is the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act developed by two U.S. congressmen, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley in 2002 which defined
significant tighter personal responsibility of corporate top management for the accuracy of reported financial statements.
Compliance in the USA generally means compliance with laws and regulations. These laws can have criminal or civil penalties or
can be regulations. The definition of what constitutes an effective compliance plan has been elusive. Most authors, however,
continue to cite the guidance provided by the United States Sentencing Commission in Chapter 8 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
On October 12 2006, the U.S. Small Business Administration re-launched Business.gov which provides a single point of access to government services and information
that help businesses comply with government regulations.
There are a number of other regulations such as GLBA, FISMA, and HIPAA. In some cases other compliance frameworks (such as COBIT) or
standards (NIST) inform on how to comply with the regulations.
Compliance in Australia
Standards Australia have recently revised the standard titled "AS 3806 - Compliance
Programs". While many aspects of the original standard produced in 1998 standard appear in the 2006 version there are additional
principles covered. The regulators in Australia continue to endorse and encourage (by regulation) the use of the standard when
establishing a compliance framework.
The regulators are the Australian Securities and Investment
Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation
Authority (APRA).
Compliance demands in the superannuation industry continue to increase due to the new licensing regime implemented by APRA.
The new licensing regime requires trustees of superannuation funds to demonstrate to APRA that they have adequate resources
(human, technology and financial), risk management systems and appropriate skills and expertise to manage the superannuation
fund. The licensing regime has lifted the bar for superannuation trustees with a significant number of small to medium size
superannuation funds exiting the Industry due to the increasing risk and compliance demands.
Compliance in the UK
There is considerable regulation in the UK, some of which is from EU legislation. Various areas are policed by different
bodies, such as the FSA (Financial Services Authority), EPA (Environment Protection Agency), Information Commissioner and
others.
Important compliance issues for all organisations large and small include the Data
Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Combined Code issued by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is the Sarbanes-Oxley equivalent in the UK.
See also
External links
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- Business.gov, Official U.S. Government Portal for
Complying with Regulations.
- Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG), OCEG is a
nonprofit organization that provides numerous free resources for corporate governance, risk management, compliance and business
ethics.
- Compliance Resources - compliance resource
for information regarding government regulations
- eWEEK's Topic Center - Compliance
- The latest news and information about Compliance
- Regulatory Compliance news
blog
- IT Policy Compliance.Com Conducts Research
on IT Compliance
- An Article on
Documenting RoHs Compliance, with good general principles
- Quality and Compliance Portal
- ReguStand - better compliance, provides free
resources for SMEs regarding compliance, IT risks, best practice
- ComplianceHeadquarters The
information crossroads where you'll find the most comprehensive compliance knowledge and solutions for the financial services
industry.
- Compliance News A national internet
publication that promotes the interests of disabled, women, veteran, and minority owned businesses. It provides lists of federal
and state jobs that are looking to hire Veteran sub contractors in compliance with the state/federal laws.
- Business Trends
Quarterly's Focus Area - Governance, Risk Management & Compliance (GRC)
- IT Compliance Institute
- Compliance Software
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