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As the list of regulations increases in size and complexity each year, CFOs are facing this challenge head-on. They’re using their expertise, speaking with external consultants, and considering the challenge from a talent acquisition perspective. Are these regulations a mere hurdle to be surmounted, or a real opportunity to streamline operations?Our interviews with CFOs from SMEs to multinationals have revealed four key ways of approaching regulatory changes and compliance. Click below on the Pilot, Scientist, Coach, and Engineer to reveal their insight regarding this challenge.
Globally, the number of new regulations for businesses is increasing at lightning speed. Insurance firm Thomas Risk Management Solutions once calculated that a new regulatory alert occurs every 12 minutes, guaranteeing that compliance will continue to be on the CFO’s agenda for the foreseeable future.The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will take effect this year, is the latest example of the regulatory hurricane that is striking businesses across the world. It is set to have an enormous impact on the EU, with data protection violations amassing fines of 4% of group sales, or EUR 20 million -- whichever is higher.
The CFOs interviewed for this study agreed that the new data protection regulation will be a huge challenge, especially as other regions are developing similar laws.“It is a massive hurdle that everybody is struggling with at the moment,” says Kelvin Stagg, Global CFO of PageGroup. “The rest of the world is moving in the same direction; there is already a Chinese version in the making.”There is little doubt that within companies, the CFO is well positioned to tackle the fact of ever-changing regulations. But as pressure grows, they must figure out how to do so. As James Gregory, UK CFO of global real estate firm JJL explains: “Whether it’s GDPR, IFRS or US GAAP, the list just gets bigger and more complex each year.”
New regulations impact more than just the company’s operations; a failure to comply would instantly affect its credibility with shareholders.This is where the CFO as Engineer shines. This particular method involves the CFO designing the right approach to compliance and constructing a solution that calls for support from a range of disciplines: finance, accounting, treasury, administration, budgeting, and planning.“Compliance and the changing regulations mean that we need to have people who know more about practical details, who contribute to the work required to achieve compliance, and who can review and assess progress in a competent manner,” says Phil Dennis, CFO of Bizspace. “Our processes in the past were fairly compliant, but the documentation needed greater attention. Now we delegate tasks to the people in the business who are closer to the action, while keeping an overall view.”
To ensure IT systems are compliant, the CFO must be familiar with security issues, ideally within the framework of multiple legal systems. They can achieve this either by working closely with the COO/CIO, or by having the Tech Department report directly into the CFO.Both the company’s systems and those of customers and suppliers should undergo regular health checks. This heavy-duty undertaking is best suited to the tech-savvy approach of the Scientist.
It would be short-sighted to approach compliance exclusively from a technical point of view, argues Phil Dennis: “In the last few months, we´ve been working on GDPR, the more rigorous money laundering regulations, the corporate criminal offence regulations, and, obviously, changes to IFRS. For each of those we have had to adopt a different approach. For example: GDPR is not purely about IT, but it’s also about creating business-wide awareness, training, and familiarization.”By being an advocate for change, the CFO as Coach can utilize his or her visibility within the company to spread that advocacy among employees. Indeed, JJL CFO James Gregory sees training as a key priority: “The challenge with the control team is, in the increasing world of compliance regulation, how do they keep up with it? How can they use technology better, and how can they be better trained on people skills? As laws become more complex, our people need to get better at explaining complex things in simple ways.”
Although many CFOs view regulations only as an expense for the company, proper planning and precise execution can become a secret weapon. When faced with an administrative vortex, being a Pilot by keeping an eye on the bigger picture allows a company to turn compliance into a competitive advantage.Shane Kelly, CFO of real estate investor, Gazeley, explains: “Having been owned by an opportunistic fund, governance and compliance have been crucial to us for some time. As a result, we have formed a really good general counsel who is already on top of those aspects and competently educating the rest of our business about them. Now we are far more conscious about how we manage and report personal data.”
