By John Fanning
2016 was the year of compliance around the world. This year I visited 5 countries, several of the largest cities in the Americas and met with compliance professionals in each region. My main takeaway is that compliance is here to stay. Never before have we seen more awareness of corruption by the general population and the desire to take action to clean it up, then now.
Latin America is more aware of corruption and the people are holding both the government and their companies accountable for improving transparency and bringing violators to justice. In addition the economic conditions are forcing many of the USA and Canadian companies to look outside of their comfort zones for new opportunities, ventures and acquisitions. The risk only increases with these types of activities and with stricter cost controls on them, the compliance departments are having to do more with less.
Technology and outsourcing continues to grow with the cost control pressures, consolidations and the continued pursuit of growth in more cost effective markets. I believe this will continue and that the industry will find growth with technological advancements and deeper analytical analysis of the information being gathered. These strategies will help institutions find fraud and corruption sooner and more effectively. Ultimately, it will lead to a higher standard globally and will make people feel better about the companies and cultures that adhere to the principles.