How to Support Compliance Professionals

Oga Compliance, drop that regulation and go learn the business! Too many compliance professionals hide behind regulations without understanding the business they support. They recite rules they can’t apply, enforce, or defend and then wonder why they don't generate IMPACT. Regulations are open-source. Anyone can read them. Your value lies in applying them effectively and guiding the business on compliant execution which requires deep operational and technical knowledge. If you’re in fintech, you MUST understand: 1. Product management – How products are designed, launched, and iterated. 2. InfoSec – Data security, fraud prevention, and infrastructure risks. 3. Dispute & settlements – How transactions flow, chargebacks work, and liabilities are assigned. If you’re in Traditional Finance (banking, etc.), you MUST understand: 1. Branch & Treasury Operations – The nuts and bolts of transaction processing and internal workflows. 2. Trade finance – How cross-border deals, LC issuance, and supply chain financing work. 3. Relationship & Private Banking – Processes for engaging clients, structuring deals, and manage portfolios. 4. ERM – The fundamentals of lending, risk assessment, and risk appetite. My ideology is that we don’t just "enforce" compliance, we co-create solutions. - We don’t just say NO. We offer better, more compliant alternatives. - We don’t reject business from a distance. We sit with the business/their customer, discuss, and align. (If you know your stuff, everyone leaves that meeting convinced, even the customer.) - We champion initiatives, co-own projects and provide firm risk-aware postulations/advisory that enable Executives support decisions with less worry of negative outcomes. - We iterate. We modify our compliance programs as many times as needed to adapt to new ventures and initiatives the Business are interested. Yes, compliance is about adherence but its not a spectator sport and businesses speak in acquisitions, turnover, and strategy. Drop the "regulation recitation" mindset and start mastering the language of the business you support, tie your advisory to risk-reward dynamics, and drive home the ultimate goal: Cost-saving and strategic enablement.

In practice, I often encounter situations where Compliance programs focus primarily on POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND CONTROLS, but the real risk does not lie only in documents—it lies in people who do not understand them or are unaware of their importance. 💡 An employee who is neither informed nor trained represents a serious risk to the organization. WHY? Lack of knowledge does not exempt one from responsibility. Employees who are unaware of the rules may unintentionally violate the law, damage the organization's reputation, or create financial and regulatory risks. What can be done? 1.     TRAINING, TRAINING, TRAINING! The only way to reduce this risk is through continuous employee education. Compliance is not something you learn once and forget—regulations, trends, and stakeholder expectations constantly evolve, and awareness of risks must be regularly updated. When I talk about training, I don’t mean just basic Compliance sessions on the Code of Ethics and internal policies. There is a whole range of critical topics that employees need to understand to navigate Compliance & Ethics effectively. 2. CLEAR AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION Beyond formal training, the key to success lies in clear, two-way, and easily understandable communication. If employees don’t know where to find key information, seek advice, or report irregularities, and if internal policies are written in complex legal language, their practical application will be minimal. When I talk about communication, I don’t just mean internal communication within the organization but also how Compliance is communicated to third parties, the public, and the media. How does your organization approach this? According to research conducted in the region where I work, only 22% of organizations conduct Compliance & Ethics training once a year. 📌 Compliance is not just an internal process—it is the foundation of corporate reputation. #compliance #training

How can AI support compliance professionals in a meaningful way? This is something many of us at Thoropass have a front-row seat to every day. AI has the potential to completely reshape how compliance teams operate. Not by replacing them, but by freeing them to focus on what actually moves the needle. Certain parts of the job like audit prep, evidence collection, writing controls, mapping requirements, drafting remediation plans are time-consuming. They're manual, and frankly, preventable. I like to call them BUSY WORK. AI is the most effective weapon we have to stop busy work from draining your team’s time, energy, and morale. When used intentionally, AI enables three structural shifts that define the future of compliance: 1. Eliminate the operational drag. Automating evidence reviews, control mapping, and repeatable workflows gives teams back dozens (sometimes hundreds) of hours. That reclaimed time isn’t just efficiency — it’s the difference between “keeping up” and actually advancing the program. 2. Shift from firefighting to foresight. With more time and cleaner data, compliance teams can finally operate proactively: spotting emerging risks sooner, strengthening controls before issues escalate, and partnering with the business instead of reacting to it. AI turns compliance from a checklist function into a strategic one. 3. Build resilience against an AI-powered threat landscape. It’s not just defenders using AI — attackers are too. The speed, volume, and sophistication of threats are accelerating. Teams that adopt AI don’t just work faster; they see patterns earlier, respond quicker, and can handle risks that would overwhelm traditional processes. The takeaway: AI isn’t just a tool to simplify work or speed up existing processes. It’s what finally breaks the cycle of busy work that has held compliance teams back for decades — unlocking the time, insight, and resilience needed to operate at a truly strategic level in an increasingly complex risk environment.

Your team's silence isn't golden. It's dangerous. In financial services, leading without feedback is like flying blind in a thunderstorm. You think everything's fine until you're already crashing. 😞 That quiet compliance officer who never speaks up? They're sitting on a dozen red flags. The loan officer who just nods and agrees? They've spotted client patterns that could save you millions. The analyst who seems "totally fine" with everything? They're polishing their resume. 💡 Here’s what I learned after missing early warnings from a junior analyst about reporting errors. It wasn’t malicious. They just didn’t feel safe speaking up. By the time it surfaced, compliance had already flagged us, and it turned into a fire drill that burned weeks of time and credibility. Silence doesn't mean agreement. It means fear. Disengagement. Or worse, they've already mentally quit. The cost isn't just morale. It's compliance failures you never saw coming. Risk exposures that blindside your board. Talent walking out the door without warning. Here’s how the smartest financial leaders are building feedback cultures that actually protect their firms: ✅ Weekly Feedback Sprints → 15-minute check-ins focused on "What could derail us?" → No status reports, just obstacles and early warnings → Create safety to surface problems while they're still small ✅ Anonymous Quarterly Channels → Digital tools for compliance concerns and culture red flags → Act on patterns, not individual complaints → Report back: "Here's what we heard and what we changed" ✅ Leader Office Hours → Weekly 20-minute slots anyone can book → No agenda required, no performance reviews → Just real conversations that build trust ✅ 360 Check-Ins (Semi-Annual) → Feedback from peers, reports, and key clients → Focus on leadership impact, not personality → Turn insights into concrete development plans ✅ Micro-Recognition for Speaking Up → Publicly acknowledge when feedback changes decisions → "Thanks to Maria's insight, we caught this risk early" → Show your team that their voice has real impact Feedback isn't a nice-to-have in financial services. It's your early warning system for everything from SEC violations to culture breakdown to your best people heading for the exit. The firms that master feedback don't just survive regulatory scrutiny. They thrive because their people actually tell them what's happening. 💬 What’s the biggest barrier stopping your team from giving you honest feedback? ♻️ Share if this resonates, your insight could help others retain their best. ➕ Follow Rene Madden for more strategies on leadership, culture, and making chaos optional P.S. - Don't forget to sign up for my free webinar this Friday at noon est. on Delegation without Micromanaging - https://lnkd.in/gBSyqNRJ

Being a one-person trade compliance team made me feel as though I had been left out in the cold. That’s when I learned to make one feel like many. When I joined a global pharma company as the only trade compliance expert, the weight was heavy. Every import, every regulation, every risk-on my desk. I felt alone, stretched thin, and unsure where to start. But I found a way to turn one into many. Here’s how I did it: → I learned to prioritize. I stopped chasing every task and focused on what really drove compliance. That meant saying no to less urgent work and yes to what mattered most. → I built my team-inside the company. I reached out to supply chain, technical operations, finance, tax, legal, logistics, R&D, and procurement. Each department had a role to play. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone. I had allies. → I developed a strong relationship with our customs broker. They became my partner, helping me understand new rules and avoid border delays. Their expertise made my work easier. → I communicated, often. I kept management and stakeholders informed. I shared updates, explained risks, and showed how compliance helped everyone. Support grew with every conversation. → I brought in outside help when needed. Consultants joined for big projects. Their knowledge filled gaps and kept things moving. Step by step, the pressure eased. My “team of one” became a network. Progress happened. Compliance became part of company culture. If you’re a solo trade compliance professional, remember: you can build your own support system. You don’t have to do it all alone. What challenges have you faced when establishing trade compliance in your organization? _______________________________ I am Elizabeth Lomax, import/export compliance expert helping pharma and biotech companies create more efficient international supply chains. DM me or visit my LinkedIn profile to learn more. To stay updated, click the notification bell on my profile. 🔔