It is a word of English origin, which comes from the term "to comply with", that is, "to act in accordance with".
Compliance, therefore, means act in accordance with any regulation, law, directive or internal and external policy.
Compliance currently works as a business management system, responsible for ensuring that a company complies with external and internal laws, guidelines and policies.
The purpose of compliance management is to ensure that the company's good reputation is preserved, keeping it away from any corruption or fraud scandal, whether in the financial, legal or administrative.
This entire management process is based on the standards of regulatory bodies, such as municipalities, states, federal standards and even the company itself.
How is a Compliance Program implemented in a company?
For a company to have a Compliance Program or an Integrity Program in place, some key steps need to be followed.
First a diagnosis of the company's risks is made. This analysis is carried out based on the ethical values of the institution and aims to find possible situations in which these values may be violated, whether in the legal, corporate, strategic or administrative.
This first phase is important because it is from the result of this diagnosis that the consultant and those responsible for the company are aware of what may be harmful to the integrity of the institution.
THE second level it is the management of risks found in the diagnosis. At this moment, the compliance manual is merged with the company's values and possible risks. This must be presented and followed by employees, partners, customers and suppliers.
This phase is important so that everyone who belongs to the institution is aware of the possible risks that the company runs and how they can avoid them in their daily work.
THE third phase it is to create antidotes that prevent possible risks from actually happening. This is important so that the company is always able to act immediately in any situation that puts its reputation at risk.
THE fourth stage it is the monitoring and reporting management that works as the maintenance of all the previous phases.
It is important to emphasize that a Compliance Program is constantly re-evaluated and adjusted, as it is intended to always be aware of new risks that are harmful to the company.
What are the benefits of Compliance for companies?
There are some benefits that a compliance integrity program brings to a company. Some of them are:
Competitive advantage
As a company with constant monitoring to avoid fraud and corruption, those who adhere to an integrity program such as compliance manage to maintain a good reputation in their field.
This automatically creates a great competitive advantage over other companies that do not have integrity programs.
risk prevention
By predicting corruption and fraud risks, companies that adhere to compliance are automatically able to foresee financial and administrative losses, and even legal and strategic problems.
This helps maintain the company's reputation as looking out for its own future, making it more trustworthy.
Good reputation and credibility in the business market
By taking greater care with the transparency of its business, a company that implements a system compliance becomes more trustworthy for both its customers, suppliers and investors.
Thus, the institution builds a good reputation within the business market, transmitting credibility to any person or company that wants to establish a relationship with it.
How did compliance come about?
Compliance obtained its first registration in the United States of America, in 1913, when the FED: Federal Reserve System, also known as the US central banking system, was created.
The Fed was responsible for maintaining supervision so that all US banks were in compliance with the laws of the country, avoiding any scheme of bank corruption.
In 1972, there was a major political scandal that accused then US President Richard Nixon of paying officials to clandestinely spy on the opposition party. After this and other corruption problems that followed, the FCPA: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the North American Transnational Anti-Corruption Act, was created in 1977.
This law is intended to keep the government and companies fully transparent in accounting matters, in addition to fighting international corruption. After its creation, the UK also implemented an Integrity and Transparency Act, called the Bribery Act. In Brazil, the anti-corruption law (12,846) was created in 2013.
All of these laws and control systems give rise to compliance. Each one of them indicates the path of accounting, legal and administrative transparency to be followed by public and private companies and even the government.
What are the characteristics of the compliance program?
A compliance program has characteristics that benefit not only companies, but also their partners, employees and customers. Some of the main ones are:
- Provides and builds an identity for your company, helping to develop and shape its own dynamic culture;
- It is highly detailed to analyze the possible risks that a company runs;
- It is always in accordance with the laws and guidelines of the country;
- It promotes an anonymous and secure reporting channel, within the company itself, so that illegal actions are communicated;
- It manages to have a global vision of the company, in all areas of activity.
