3.0: The Compliance Paradox
It’s not just about rules. It’s about relationships
It’s not just about rules. It’s about relationships
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of hosting a dinner on behalf of Vixio, bringing together a group of compliance leaders and peers for an evening of meaningful conversation and shared insight.
The theme of the evening was one that resonates deeply across our profession: The Compliance Paradox.
Compliance is an essential business function — a safeguard that protects organisations from regulatory risk, reputational damage, and operational missteps.
And yet, the ultimate aspiration is for compliance to become almost invisible. Not because it’s ignored, but because it’s so embedded in the organisation that it becomes second nature — part of how people think, decide, and act.
Around the table, we discussed what it really takes to build that kind of culture. The consensus? It’s not just about rules. It’s about relationships.
The Compliance Paradox
Compliance is an essential function that protects the business, not just a regulatory tick-box. Business leaders know they need it but and the ultimate goal is for it to be almost invisible, because that means no fines, no issues.
Creating Compliance Culture
It’s not just a team, it’s a way of working. Effective compliance requires a shared understanding and open communication across the organisation. Compliance teams are knowledge hubs, not gatekeepers – and they shine when everyone leans in to the Compliance Culture.
It’s not getting easier
Post-Brexit, regulatory landscapes are more fragmented and constantly shifting. Navigating this demands adaptable strategies and trusted external partners who can offer targeted expertise, and help Compliance Leaders shift through all the noise, to what’s most important to their organisation.
Compliance is a vocation (but a bit of tech support helps!)
Great compliance leaders have high EQ: they can put themselves in the shoes of others, and help them get realise their vision. They’re detail lovers who thrive on digging through complexity to prioritise what really matters for the business.
That said, they’re always looking for tools that ease the burden and support smart decision-making. A critical thought on their minds at the moment is succession planning and team building - it takes a lot of knowledge, but tools and tech that enable that knowledge to be scalable, shareable and repeatable are key.
The vision? Compliance nirvana
A world where everyone in the organisation spends just 5% of their time thinking about compliance – not because they’re told to, but because it’s embedded in how they work.
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If conversations like these resonate with you, and you’re navigating the ever-evolving world of compliance, regulation, and payments, we’d love to keep the dialogue going.
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