The compliance system is entirely linked to anti-corruption laws and regulations, however, it has a much wider scope. The word “compliance” comes from the verb “to comply” which, in short, means to act in accordance with an order, a set of rules, or a request. Therefore, compliance is the set of measures and procedures with the objective of preventing, detecting, and remedying the occurrence of irregularities, fraud, and corruption.
Adopting an ethical stance is among the main concerns of a corporation that aims to work responsibly. Be it a private company, publicly traded company, or even associative institution. Thus, in the corporate environment, compliance systems are related to the organization’s compliance and integrity. In other words, it means being aligned with the company’s rules, which must be observed and followed carefully. These rules vary according to the activities carried out by the company and, as previously stated, are not limited to cases of corruption. They may, for example, involve labor, tax, regulatory, competition obligations, etc.
How compliance came about
The concept emerged at the beginning of the 20th century in American legislation. The time when the Central Bank of the United States (FED) was created to make the financial environment safer and more stable. Later, in 1970, several private companies and even governments were discovered to be involved in corruption schemes in the United States. To prevent the scandal from recurring and taking on even greater proportions, the Transnational Anti-Corruption Law was created. It made penalties even stricter for companies involved in corruption abroad.
How compliance systems work
The term “being in compliance” means acting in accordance with policies, codes of conduct, and existing legislation in external and internal areas of a company. Several segments and sectors adopt this concept, which is related to Corporate Governance. That is, it is a management model that aims to manage, monitor, and encourage companies to act with corporate responsibility in compliance with the rules.
Compliance program updates are critical
There are many compliance programs but only a few have a true impact on how a company can successfully meet its various obligations, both internal and external. There are at least several factors underlying why Program A is better than Program B, one of which is how it is updated. Relying on compliance programs/software that are not updated regularly is a mistake because there are always changes almost every year and if you fail to comply with one or more, you, more precisely your organization/company, will be in trouble. Please be aware that in many cases, compliance violations can result in criminal prosecution and cessation of company operations.
A regulatory update service, therefore, is very important and in the current context, what Nimonik inc. offers seems to be the closest to reality. Nimonik is the best provider of EHS compliance software in Canada and it has what it calls a Regulatory Update Bulletin and a Compliance Library which both make it easy for any user to monitor what changes have occurred, for example to industry standards or legislation. Nimonik has strong and stable resources so that every user can access changes to obligations anytime and anywhere. By knowing updates to applicable regulations, standards, or laws, each user can adapt their compliance strategy to the dynamics that always exist in the industrial world.
There are a wide variety of regulatory and industry topics that Nimonik covers and each user can choose the ones most relevant to his or her needs without any headaches. The following is an example of the regulatory topics Nimonik covers:
– ESG
– Health & Safety
– Cyber Security
– Communications and Utilities
– Financial administration
The Bulletin and Regulatory Update Library will save users time from conducting manual searches on government websites for example. They can also minimize the role of legal consultants and that means savings in costs.