COMPLIANCE CHECKS


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TARGETED INVESTIGATION CAN HELP BUSINESSES CATCH UP ON COVID-DRIVEN COMPLIANCE RISKS


Many lessons are emerging from the rollercoaster ride supply chains have been on over the past 12 months. TAPA Asia Pacific reviews a new report by Supply Chain Brain looking at some of the compliance risks businesses have been forced to take, and what happens now…


Compliance means adhering to rules and regulations, and regulatory compliance sets out what companies need to do to ensure they meet policies and laws in the national and regional jurisdictions they operate in.


Regulatory compliance, of course, varies by industry and by location and can be laid down or controlled not just by federal agencies but also the likes of banks or other financial and risk assessment organizations. In a normal year for supply chains, all procurements and shipments follow protocols and compliances stipulated by law – but, in 2020, the challenges faced were unprecedented. Procurements, especially in healthcare and other critical business sectors, were faced with sudden product, component or raw material shortages and, often, critical decisions had to be taken within just a matter of days to stay in the game. Consequently, some suppliers and buyers could not go through standard vetting and compliance processes, opting instead for speed to market to meet the pressure of delivery timelines. This, in turn, has exposed many organizations to potential risks.


In its special report, Supply Chain Brain says there will be a myriad of ways in which the events of 2020 will have precipitated compliance risks, and these will need to be addressed this year. Some companies, for example, which may have pivoted quickly to direct-to-consumer distribution may face potential data liability. Here, it is prudent to mention that data retention, as a part of regulatory compliance, has always proven to be a challenge in many instances, and this is true for businesses in virtually every sector. The security that comes with compliance can


seem contrary to maintaining user privacy. Data policies asks for large amounts of data beyond normal business functions, and this causes some real difficulties, particularly where personal data is concerned.


Supply Chain Brain writes that the dramatic shift suffered in 2020 by many organizations will have resulted in risks which will now need to be identified in a very targeted and cost- effective manner. It says one highly effective solution is to use the micro investigation approach. Using advanced search syntax and experts who know how to identify key patterns in language, this helps to quickly identify the most critical documents for a


particular business compliance. This, it says, may be a more methodical approach that starts small and grows following leads to establish important paths of inquiry, while a normal search function or machine learning may come at a higher cost in terms of time, money and huge volumes of data.


Compliance will always be challenging and come with a wide variety of risks but, the article says, companies that are ethical and proactive in keeping dealings transparent, and which methodically investigate strategies and potential risks, will always emerge as stronger contenders in the industry.


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