WHY COMPLIANCE IS SO IMPORTANT TO US…

In an industry as heavily regulated as ours, it goes without saying that compliance and specifically, operating at all times compliantly – is one of the single most important issues we face.

We know people ‘get-it’ generally – but in light of some recent issues raised about the ‘onerous’ nature of our onboarding process and the seemingly never-ending barrage of emails/calls fired out to staff by those in our business responsible for maintaining compliance…we just wanted to quickly re-enforce why compliance is so important to us and provide some comfort that we recognise that things perhaps are not being done as efficiently as can be…and that we are taking steps to improve things.

Without compliance – we cannot expect our clients (who have the same level of compliance expectations foisted onto them as we do by their clients!) to reliably build or maintain trust in us to do what we do well and safely. By extension then, compliance is quite simply our duty – to our clients and our staff. Without compliance, we invite reputational damage, which is something no company in the business of providing re-assurance, can afford.

A robust and well managed (even when that feels too overbearing sometimes) compliance management programme is central to governing how a business operates – what it does, how it does it and why it does it. In our business, as with others, it can be used for ‘conservative’ reasons such as reducing unforced errors and enhancing consistency but crucially, we also view compliance as a key driver to change and innovation and one of our key competitive differentiators when considering our size and target market.

Everyone, no matter the industry, is seeking efficiencies to improve service to clients and returns to stakeholders. We have realised that the more compliance is embedded in the DNA of our business and everyone within it, rather than siloed in a separate departments or functions, the more efficient our operations become. That, along with providing our clients with the comfort and trust of knowing they are working with a supplier who places compliance at heart of everything it does – is the end goal!

Rest assured, as with everything we do, we are always seeking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how we do it! At present, we are looking at adopting technology to streamline our processes around compliance and to re-enforce the reasons we do what we do in terms of seeking to always operate compliantly…and continuing to providing reassurance to our valued clients, prospects and staff.