According to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, compliance is "the line of defense that identifies the risks that an organization may suffer from sanctions, fines, financial losses or loss of reputation as a result of non-compliance with acts, regulations, self-regulatory standards or codes of conduct that apply to its activity".

In this sense, compliance provides the guideline for companies to fully comply with the set of rules, regulations and guidelines that regulate it, within its different aspects, to ensure compliance and thus reduce potential risks, and thus avoid possible sanctions, fines or penalties that could undermine business development.

In Mexico, it is a function that became relevant as of March 5 (five), 2014 (two thousand fourteen), where within the National Code of Criminal Procedures, it was implemented in its article 421 (four hundred and twenty-one), that companies may be criminally liable for crimes committed on their behalf when it has been determined that there was a non-compliance due control in their organization, which has legal consequences such as monetary penalties, fines, or even the dissolution of the same.

However, currently this figure has taken such relevance that it is no longer exclusive to criminal matters, but applies to all ethical and regulatory standards that should govern companies, such as tax, labor, corporate, criminal, regulatory and financial matters, among others.

Thus, in order to manage the latent risks of corporate activity, it is necessary to carry out the following activities:

I.               PREVENTION

At this stage, policies and standards are implemented to avoid possible sanctions, so the following actions must be implemented: 

1.     Analyze the possible risks inherent to the corporate activity performed;

2.     Manage and design a series of policies and procedures to prevent the possible commission of conduct; and 

3.     To implement training and capacity building mechanisms for their implementation.

II.         DETECTION AND REPORTING

In this stage, possible non-compliances are located and the responsible bodies within the company are informed in order to take the necessary measures to correct them:

1.     Constant surveillance of the company by means of periodic monitoring to analyze possible non-compliances; and 

2.     Once the possible non-compliance is detected, informing the competent body within the company to implement improvements.

III. RESOLUTION

If the prevention activities implemented are not sufficient to avoid the risks, compliance is responsible for minimizing, eliminating or compensating the impact of non-compliance, which includes the following actions:

1.     Where appropriate, adopting sanctions for non-compliance;

2.     Substantiating the deficiencies detected and avoiding their recurrence; and;

3.     Modify the compliance policies implemented and ensure their operation.

In this sense, compliance is a very useful tool within companies since it adapts their activity to their regulatory environment in order to avoid or reduce possible risks and thus the possible commission of infractions or fines that could affect them.

We are always grateful for the trust you have placed in us, and we remain at your disposal for any questions or comments.
For more information, please contact: 
Diana.oropeza@vila.com.mx