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The relationship between the board and the compliance and ethics department has changed dramatically over the last several years, with more compliance professionals having at least a dotted line between them and the organization’s governing body. 

This is not coincidental, as several factors have converged to create a strong incentive for the board to grow more active in its oversight of compliance. First, the seemingly never-ending series of large settlements has underscored the risk to the organization for non-compliant and unethical behavior. Second, as more and more boards work directly with compliance, it’s more difficult for those who do not to justify their current practice.

Finally, the new evaluation criteria from the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division at the United States Department of Justice has upped the ante by asking what compliance expertise is available on the board, not just to it. This argues both for greater interaction with compliance as well as more training for board members.

To better understand what compliance training is made available to the board, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics& Health Care Compliance Association conducted a survey in 2017. The results indicated that training is very much the norm,and while overall compliance professionals are at least partially satisfied with the amount of training done, there is significant room for improvement.

 

See Full Survey Results