Moving faster: Reinventing compliance to speed up, not trip up

Winning through compliance innovation

Global regulation – driven by myriad macro forces and crises – is adding unprecedented complexity and cost to companies. Against a backdrop of commercial pressures, some have adapted and become ‘compliance pioneers’, evolving their processes, technology and talent model to mitigate risks, manage cost and offer new insights. For others, this complexity has diverted management attention and resources and undermined confidence, causing them to lose their balance and momentum in pursuing strategic and competitive goals.

But what if there was a different way? A way to reinvent compliance to navigate complexity, build trust, and take risk intelligently to speed up – and stay in the race.

PwC conducted a survey of executives to obtain their perspectives on compliance practices, challenges, and ways they are evolving to remain fit for the future. Our survey represents feedback from:

• 1,802 executives in the first, second and third line, including business leaders (38%), Chief Compliance Officers (25%), Chief Risk Officers (14%), Chief Audit Executives (9%), and General Counsel/Heads of Legal (5%)
• 63 territories, covering Europe (29%), North America (26%), Asia Pacific (22%), Latin America (15%), Middle East (6%) and Africa (2%)
• A broad mix of industry sectors, including financial services (29%), industrial products and services (20%), technology, media and telecommunications (14%), consumer markets (14%), and health industries (10%)
• Companies operating domestically and internationally. 54% have annual revenues greater than US$1 billion 

The insights shared in this report can help you to:

Amongst the findings in our survey

1. The compliance ecosystem is more complex and connected than ever before, driven by transformation, cross-industry reinvention and new business models. The common denominator is the focus on technology compliance risks, particularly cyber security and data privacy and protection – a top priority for 51% of respondents.
2. A majority of respondents (77%) stated that their company had been negatively impacted to some or a great extent across several areas that drive growth. This creates an imperative for companies to evolve compliance to alleviate the commercial impact and unlock its upside potential for ‘value creation’.
3. Companies have to tailor compliance models that are right for them, but ‘connected compliance’ is important for better decision-making, transparency and culture. 59% of respondents cited greater confidence in compliance decision-making because of better coordination.
4. Compliance technology is already helping companies move faster, navigate complexity, and avoid hazards. For compliance, this includes better visibility of risks and risk management activities (64%), faster identification and proactive response to compliance issues (53%), higher quality/more insightful reporting (48%), and increased productivity and cost savings (43%).
5. There is a sense of urgency and an opportunity to accelerate transformation and pioneer new approaches. Only 7% of respondents currently consider themselves to be leading in compliance, yet 38% aim to be leading within three years.