The term compliance describes the ability to act according to an order, set of rules or request.

In the context of financial services - for example - businesses compliance operates at two levels.

Level 1 - compliance with the external rules that are imposed upon an organisation as a whole

Level 2 - compliance with internal systems of control that are imposed to achieve compliance with the externally imposed rules.

The Compliance Officer has a duty to his employer to work with management and staff to identify and manage regulatory risk.
T
he overriding objectives of a compliance officer should be to ensure that an organization has systems of internal control that adequately measure and manage the risks that it faces.

RESPONSIBILITY - The general responsibility of the Compliance Officer is to provide an in-house compliance service that effectively supports business areas in their duty to comply with relevant laws and regulations and internal procedures

What are the five key functions of a Compliance Department?

To identify the risks that an organisation faces and advise on them (identification)
To design and implement controls to protect an organisation from those risks (prevention)
To monitor and report on the effectiveness of those controls in the management of an organisations exposure to risks (monitoring and detection)
To resolve compliance difficulties as they occur (resolution)
To advise the business on rules and controls (advisory)


Corporate governance is a highly inclusive concept that covers a number of different aspects about the way in which an organisation is managed, directed and governed.

It can be described as a set of relationships between a company’s management, board, shareholders, and other stakeholders, which provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set. Furthermore it provides the means of attaining and monitoring performance against those objectives.

The term ‘regulation’ generally refers to a set of binding rules issued by a private or public body with the necessary authority to supervise compliance with them and apply sanctions in response to violation of them.