Achieving process compliance is essential for smooth business operation, as well as to meet legal obligations. We examine what a good plan should contain, and show how a financial services organisation improved its compliance. 

 

Governance, risk and compliance (GRC) is about instilling and following good business practices

GRC is increasingly important to the way investors value companies. It covers the processes and procedures that ensure a business achieves its objectives, tackles uncertainty and acts with integrity. These span a range of areas from carbon emissions to board-member diversity and beyond. It’s about best practice as well as complying with legal requirements.

 

Compliance covers external and internal regulations

If you work in a regulated industry, like financial services, gambling, or retail, then process compliance will be on your mind every day. A failure to comply with legislation can lead to penalties including fines, reputational damage or even imprisonment.

However, compliance doesn’t only cover external legal regulations. It’s also important that your teams comply with internal standards so the business runs smoothly.

 

A good compliance management plan is based on documentation and evidence

The principles of process compliance are broadly similar, no matter which regulations govern your business. Mapping and documentation will reveal where the risks and gaps are. To tackle the problems, there are a number of actions you should take:

  • Develop a risk framework to enable discovery, definition, capture and grading of risks and threats
  • Create a central repository for process documentation to facilitate collaboration and version control
  • Log and maintain details of all events like GDPR breaches or freedom-of-information requests
  • Manage the actions related to those events, to demonstrate how you are responding to them
  • Record evidence of compliance and governance practices
  • Make an auditable record of all actions to prove that your organisation is compliant

Six boxes showing key elements of a governance, risk and compliance plan

Source: BusinessOptix

 

Case study: how a financial services organisation embedded critical regulations into operating models and processes

The problem

A financial services organisation faced dramatic change thanks to new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations and licence requirements. It needed to demonstrate that the regulations were embedded into business and client management processes.

The solution

The organisation used BusinessOptix to map the processes underlying its customer journeys and to embed the FCA regulations into those journeys. The platform’s process documentation functionality enabled the business to clearly show adherence to the regulations.

The results

Collaboration was a vital ingredient in achieving a successful outcome, which included:

  • An easier, more operationally efficient and cost-effective way to access and share information across the business
  • A centralised repository for all process and data-related information, including the regulations reference guide
  • Faster decision-making and a harmonious working environment, thanks to easy-to-use collaboration and communication tools
  • Ability to adjust, approve, and demonstrate processes and documentation are in line with future regulatory changes

 

Proactively manage reputational, financial and operational risks

The BusinessOptix platform will help you link your GRC tools with business operations and improve collaboration. Let us show you how: claim your free BusinessOptix demo here.