Taking Corporate Compliance Programs Digital.

• Author: Falcione, Andrea

* It's 2019, and compliance programs simply must keep up in the digital world. Consumers of content--compliance and otherwise--have heightened expectations in the digital age. In addition, automation and technology enablement will increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of any company's compliance risk management efforts, so they need to be a priority.

Here's the big picture: government agencies are getting more clever. In just one example of many, the Securities and Exchange Commission has chartered an entire unit dedicated to using technology and data analytics to detect insider trading.

"[The] SEC Market Abuse Unit's Analysis and Detection Center ... uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious patterns such as improbably successful trading in advance of earnings announcements over time," according to an SEC press release.

At a minimum, companies ought to be able to match the data analytics and other capabilities of their regulators.

In its April 30 guidance document on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, the Department of Justice addressed the following elements it would look for when determining whether a company's program is effective: the collecting, tracking and analysis of compliance data (otherwise known as compliance monitoring); risk assessment metrics; vendor risk management and third-party due diligence; and controls testing.

Several of these focus areas, by their very nature, require the use of technology--and, therefore, a whole new set of skills in compliance departments. Controls testing, in particular, is becoming more and more automated and assisted by technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Justice Department also cited the need for adequate resources--people and otherwise--in a compliance program, and companies would be wise to assume that includes technology investments in support of compliance.

Equally important, digital media has changed everyone's expectations for content. As a result, an organization's compliance content--from training to communications to policies --should be adaptable to any format. Codes, policies, training, communications, reporting, certifications--anything and everything compliance-related can and should be optimized for any device, and they should adapt and work smoothly, just like any other online content.

Developments in technology have raised expectations for content and visuals. Compliance content can and should be enhanced with learning...