The UK is inarguably a lucrative country in which to run a business. The nation has been one of small businesses and rapid-growth enterprise for generations, with a large private-sector appetite and a wealth of business-friendly regulations that continue to make the UK a global business heavyweight.
The health of the UK’s business landscape, even against existential threats posed by a flatlining economy, is testament to unique national strengths – and, in part, to the strength of regulations that hold businesses in each industry to account. For corporations of any size, corporate compliance is a key aspect of business longevity – but how should a business navigate this subject?
Building a Strong Compliance Program
Compliance is a term which applies to numerous different parts of a business. Businesses must, of course, remain compliant with the laws and regulations to which they are beholden – an issue of special import where matters of food standards or health and safety are concerned.
Employees on every level need to be trained comprehensively on what compliance in a given industry means, and held to account in their roles. This is where risk assessments and internal department audits can be especially important. However, financial compliance issues pose significant risks to businesses, both legally and civilly.
White-Collar Crime
White-collar crime is a catch-all term for law-breaking acts associated with businesses, wealth or high-value individuals. Tax fraud, embezzlement and other such misappropriations of funds are all white-collar crimes, and crimes which can make a business a victim – whether the perpetrator was attempting to work against it or in its favour.
It is the latter situation which makes robust legal contingencies especially important. Where an employee is found to have potentially committed a white-collar crime in the name of a business, the result can be catastrophic on multiple fronts: financially, reputationally and organisationally. A robust defence can clear a name, or structure discussions so as to protect the interests of the business, accordingly.
Implementing Proactive Risk Management Strategies
Retaining legal counsel and reviewing frameworks for white-collar defence are, by definition, defensive moves. In some senses they are even passive, as the ‘then’ answer to ‘what-if’ scenarios. For more immediate and tangible impacts to be felt, proactive risk management strategies are a necessity.
It is important, for one, to keep an active hand in monitoring regulatory changes, and to keep a hand on the tiller for when industry movements threaten compliance. Regular internal reviews are active methods of rooting out non-compliance and potentially damaging behaviours, and the incorporation of tech tools can make tracking compliance all the simpler and all the more effective.
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