The Compliance Role : A Proposal for Improved Understanding

Although clearly defining the role of the compliance function is difficult, it is crucial in order to make an organizational compliance programme effective. Reviewing examples from previous discussions, this paper suggests two new and improved ways of conceiving the compliance role. First, the earlier focus on listing compliance roles can be improved when we embed it in a dynamic interactive process with stakeholders. Second, the post-oriented and function-oriented approaches to conceiving the compliance role, which previous discussions did not distinguish, should be separated, with a focus given to the functional role. The paper concludes by discussing implications for organizational managers and researchers for future developments in this topic