THE ROLE OF THE COMPLIANCE OFFICER: THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE AND COMPANY CONSTITUTION

Date01 February 1993
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/eb024785
Published date01 February 1993
Pages376-384
AuthorM. Cruickshanks
Subject MatterAccounting & finance
THE ROLE OF THE COMPLIANCE OFFICER: THE
INFLUENCE OF CULTURE AND COMPANY CONSTITUTION
Received: 19th May, 1993
M. CRUICKSHANKS
M. CRUICKSHANKS
HAS BEEN THE COMPLIANCE OFFICER FOR A
FRATERNAL BENEFIT SOCIETY SINCE 1989. HE
PREVIOUSLY WORKED FOR THE SAME
ORGANISATION AS A SALES REPRESENTATIVE
AND DISTRICT SALES MANAGER, UNTIL HE
WAS APPOINTED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF
TRAINING IN 1988. HE ATTAINED THE F1C
(FRATERNAL INSURANCE COUNSELLOR)
QUALIFICATION IN 1987 AND IS PRESENTLY
WORKING ON THE DIPLOMA IN COMPLIANCE
STUDIES COURSE AT
EXETER
UNIVERSITY.
ABSTRACT
This paper addresses the paradox
that five
years after the implementation of the
Financial Services Act and despite the
apparent mandatory
nature of the
compli-
ance
officer's
function, no clear detailed
definition or
description
of the role has
emerged.
By tracing the origins of the office
through the legislation
and
regulation,
the
paper
suggests
that the
general perception
of the function
derives
only from the
com-
mon
responsibilities.
The
difficulty
of fur-
ther refining this perception is
demonstrated
by
reference
to
several
com-
pany or
employer-specific
constitutional
and
cultural
constraints.
The paper
concludes
that, despite the
importance of establishing a detailed
understanding of the compliance function,
assessment
of
the compliance officer's
role
will
continue
to
be based
on
those elements
of
the
function which are
common
to all
and
exclude those aspects which are
unique
to particular
companies
or groups.
INTRODUCTION
Since the implementation of the
Financial Services Act (1986) there
have been and continue to be many
different perceptions of the compli-
ance officer's role in the self-regula-
tory framework. This difficulty of
definition is not restricted to the
general public but is also demon-
strated by compliance officers' own
inability to articulate the role.
'compliance officers do not yet
have a very clear idea of what
their role actually is'1
'You can't really specify what a
compliance officer does, you have
376

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT