A new white paper details 10 major global compliance concerns that many corporate compliance officers should keep in mind throughout 2023
A unique set of compliance concerns is on the horizon in 2023, many of which is cause compliance officers some sleepless nights as they try to rise and meet that burden. The current geopolitical climate, environmental demands, economic concerns, and other conditions are shaping responsibilities for the year ahead for all compliance professionals.
To exam this further, the Thomson Reuters Institute and Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence have published a new white paper, 10 Global compliance concerns for 2023, that looks at each of these challenges that compliance officers are facing and how addressing these concerns is taking up a large part of officers’ work time.
While each country and region has their own concerns, of course, many overlap in significant ways. The concerns outlined in this paper are important to all compliance professionals, especially those in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Asia-Pacific region. Further, regulators are now requiring that much more be done with the same — and in some cases smaller — compliance budgets. Even with competing obligations, it is important for organizations to consider the global impacts of their business dealings — that, more than anything else, is on the horizon for 2023.
As the white paper shows, the cost of doing business today must include the cost of complying with coming ESG regulations in jurisdictions in which the company’s business is conducted.
The top 10 obligations in the paper provide an insight into each of the concerns that will be critical for compliance officers to manager in 2023.
For example, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are some of the most important universal concerns, and each nation has its own system of regulating the issue. This coming year promises one in which a heightened concern over the regulation of ESG will dominate the activity of many compliance departments, especially those at companies operating in multiple jurisdictions. Indeed, the cost of doing business today must include the cost of complying with coming ESG regulations in jurisdictions in which the company’s business is conducted.
With nearly just as much vigor, regulations in the compliance area in 2023 are set to have a large impact. The U.S. is changing the way securities are regulated and focusing heavily on protecting the consumer through its Best Interest Rule (Reg BI), passed in 2019. Compliance departments in the E.U. face a different, but equally complex set of obligations.
Not far removed from these concerns are those over anti-money laundering and financial crimes. Clearly, compliance officers will need to keep financial crime on their radars during 2023, simply because regulatory agencies are doing so themselves. In fact, these agencies have shown that their enforcement bite can be just as painful in this area, with total fines during 2020 and 2021 of around £476 million in the U.K. alone, including penalties imposed against such high-profile financial service firms as NatWest, HSBC, and Credit Suisse.
In addition to these concerns, there are compliance concerns about Russia’s war against Ukraine and how sanctions need to be applied, enforced, and monitored by financial institutions across the world. Add into this, concerns over the hot-button issues of digital assets and cryptocurrency and it’s little wonder that compliance officers all over the globe are having those sleepless nights.
You can download the full “10 Global compliance concerns for 2023” report by filling out the form below:
