This article first appeared on La Tercera on May 21, 2018.
BH COMPLIANCE CONSULTING FIRM, AUTHOR OF THE STUDY, THIS IS SERIOUS BECAUSE COMPANIES HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO REPORT, IN CASE THEY HAVE IMPLEMENTED A CRIME PREVENTION MODEL.
A high, but not total -as it should be by law- fulfillment of compliance duties in large companies is what was revealed by a recent study elaborated by the consulting firm BH Compliance, which evaluated the degree of information received by company directors about this type of obligations.
According to the certifier, if the implementation of the Crime Prevention Model were correct, the interaction between the compliance officer and the board of directors of a company should not have difficulties. “However, there are 16% that do not receive the reports and therefore are falling into a serious fault, which could be the origin of many problems,” says the report, which at the same time adds that for a company to correctly apply the regulations, it must have a follow-up that guarantees to avoid irregularities.
“The relationship between the person in charge of crime prevention – or compliance officer – and the highest administrative authority of a company should be timely, as far as possible direct, and should result in the delivery of a report on how the different areas are complying with the controls imposed,” adds the document.
According to Susana Sierra, executive director of BH Compliance, although most firms submit reports to the highest administrative authority, this does not mean that companies have not had problems in implementing this measure. “Many times gaps were detected in this area, so it should be considered that 84% also includes those companies that, although they had not adopted this practice effectively, did make a commitment to improve,” she says.
For the same reason, he adds, the fact that 16% of directors do not receive these compliance reports is, in his opinion, quite serious. “It is a legal requirement for the compliance officer to report on his or her management if the company has implemented its Crime Prevention Model. In addition, the reports serve precisely to identify and detect important risks that the company could have and that compromise the board of directors”, complements Sierra.
The consultant adds that to remedy these situations, it is important to take measures from the management itself, such as encouraging and demanding these reports. In addition, he explains that the content of the report should consider the updates or modifications of the company’s policies and procedures.
