What Do Regulators Really Want?

No surprise that legal and compliance professionals need to get out and interact with their peers in the industry occasionally, it’s like AA for compliance junkies. Like half-time for players of a sporting event, they need to head off to the locker room and evaluate what just happened, adjust their plan of attack or defense in some cases – and head back to the game with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

It was no different when I attended a recent HCCA conference in Scottsdale, AZ a week ago. Compliance Officers escaped the confines and calamities of their normal routines to share lessons learned and stir new ideas that could improve and enhance their GRC programs.

There were numerous topics discussed however, one ingredient that that was quite obvious was the attention being given to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 7 elements of an Effective Compliance and Ethics Program. Whether the speaker was from industry or a regulatory body, the 7 elements were part of the presentation.

I presented a pre-conference workshop on Training and the Use of Technology and what did I use to help establish the requirements – you guessed it.

I found it particularly validating when subsequent conference sessions all mentioned the same elements regardless of the topic. If you are not familiar with them – THEY ARE IMPORTANT!

The other key takeaway for me was related to the regulators remarks during their sessions and where the rubber meets the road for companies. So, what do regulators and examiners really want to find during an audit or exam?

1) Evidence of a 7 element compliance and ethics program
2) Programs that produce desired outcomes based on their design and execution
3) Legal and regulatory requirements being met

If you periodically evaluate your program and find that you can demonstrate satisfying these expectations, you rock!

If you can’t but have built a plan that is making good progress according to sound risk evaluations, you are definitely on the right track.

If you are not in either of these categories, maybe you need to call half-time, regroup, re-plan and get back in the game.

By the way, whether more regulations begin taking the principle-based approach where outcomes are increasingly the focus or not, the three items I listed above, are.