Four steps to make sure compliance has a seat at the table

28 February 2025 | Americas | Articles

Across our client base, it’s fair to say no two organizations – and no two CCOs – are alike. But there are themes we see time and time again. All too often, when big decisions are being made, CCOs feel like they haven’t been involved. Or they’re only looped in at the end to “make sure the compliance ducks are in a row”. To make sure your CCOs get a seat at the decision-making table, what steps can you take to nurture a healthy culture of compliance?

Decisions range from launching new lines of business, hiring or firing, and changes to operational procedures, to client communication strategy or marketing initiatives, to name just a few.

Step 1: Get compliance involved as early as possible

Neglecting compliance early in the decision-making process is a flaw that many organizations fall victim to, whether consciously or subconsciously. Why this happens is hard to say definitively.

At organizations that don’t focus on building a culture of compliance, it may be intentional because the business feels like the compliance team will be a blocker to business plans. While it may not be malicious, business leaders may can often think of compliance as an “after the fact” part of the business. This happens often with a lot of compliance work occurring after the work has been done.

In reality, compliance touches almost every part of the business and thus should be deeply involved with the day-to-day ongoings.

Step 2: Position compliance as a benefit, not a hinderance

Whatever the reason, most compliance professionals can probably relate with the feeling of scrambling to catch up on a project or reacting to a decision that is well on its way to completion. Then, because they weren’t involved from the start, the input they provide can feel like trying to change the route of a train that is already at full speed.

This can deepen the feeling held by many that compliance is a roadblock, and the next time an idea comes up, there will still be hesitance to include them.

If you position your compliance professionals as a positive influence on decision making and have key compliance ambassadors involved from the start of the process, you can help to prevent your business from going down faulty paths.

Step 3: Exemplify the value of involving the compliance function

It’s crucial to have a conversation with the leaders in other departments at your organization. Explain that building compliance into a process is a lot easier than changing a process to fit compliance after the fact. When the decision has already been flushed out by non-compliance employees, additional changes can be costly and create delay. Include specific examples of times you should have been involved earlier on, and how those decisions would have gone more smoothly if you were.

Step 4: Avoid being an unnecessary blocker

Most importantly, when you do get that seat at the table, make sure you aren’t that stereotypical compliance employee who rejects business ideas without discussing the merits and challenges first. You want to make sure you get invited back again, and unless there is a legitimate legal or regulatory issue with the specific item, you should try and work with the business to turn their ideas into reality while also building compliant processes at the same time.

How can Bovill Newgate help improve your compliance culture?

If you’re a fund manager or investment adviser, our team can help you better align your business to regulatory compliance obligations. We offer ongoing support options to make sure your compliance function and organization is fully aware of the latest regulatory updates. This will help your team build a strong culture of compliance with minimal disruption and cost.

We can also help you identify challenges and pursue opportunities by conducting regulatory due diligence reviews, evaluations of your compliance environment, and provide your staff with customised training suited to your unique business needs.

If you would like to talk more about how you can strengthen the culture of compliance at your organization, get in touch.