COMPLIANCE (REGULATION)

'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.

Contents
International Compliance
Compliance in the USA
Compliance in Australia
Compliance in the UK
See also
External links

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.

See also



Chief Compliance Officer

Compliance and ethics program

External links



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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