Businesses in highly regulated industries such as finance are constantly faced with the challenge of staying on top of regulatory changes. New policies and rules often need to be aligned throughout various levels of an organisation, and thus it is paramount that proficient policy management is in place to help keep policies up to date with both new and changing regulations.

With hundreds of banking institutions finding it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing finance sector,experts such as NEX News are a great place to be informed of coming regulatory changes as well as the vortex of adaptations being made within the sector. Buthow important is staying on top of regulatory changes, exactly? Find out below!

Dedicated Policy Owners

When it comes to understanding the importance of staying on top of regulatory changes, a great place to start is by assigning dedicated policy owners to various policies in order to reduce the number of compliance failures – after all, these often occur when no one has checked a policy for months, if not years, after it has been instituted.

Further to this, companies can also run into to trouble when it comes to accountability if an employee violates a policy, which is yet another reason why it is crucial that your business stays on top of regulatory changes. By having a dedicated policy owner, you can rest assured that all policies are being followed by rule, and are successfully reflecting required changes in laws, regulations and business practices alike.

Easy Access & Availability

In order to stay on top of regulatory changes, businesses need to ensure that the policies are readily available at any given time, regardless of whether it is available through a type of policy management software or HR portal.

Ultimately, when employees have a question, regardless of what it might entail, they need to be able to look at the policy. If they are unable to find the policy, they can’t learn from it and therefore can’t be trained as required. Automated solutions are the ultimate solution to this issue, as it enables employees to find the policies they are looking for with ease. In turn, this significantly betters compliance. Whilst SharePoint sites can work, they often still lack invaluable centralized control.

Interdepartmental Communication

Consigning responsibilities and policy management across departments within an organisation ultimately requires open communication in order to ensure everything remains centralised. Regular reviews in particular help ensure that regulatory changes are maintained, as everyone will be informed of the new legal requirements and will be given the opportunity to refresh their knowledge. After all, compliance isn’t just a responsibility of management and the compliance officer; it is each employee’s responsibility to be alert and aware of these regulatory changes before they are implemented.

Online Training

When it comes to identifying the importance of staying on top of regulatory changes, online training plays a significant role in helping to ensure that your employees are fully aware of changes as well as what’s to come as a result. In fact, online training is one of the most effective ways to both deliver these updates and promote awareness. Learning management systems (LMS) in particular are a great option for those wanting to effectively deliver this type of information to employees. What's more, this enables employees to stay ahead of regulatory changes as they can keep track of regulatory updates before the change is enforced. This will help ensure that the relevant information reaches those that will be affected in good time. In turn, this can also help estimate the impact on the business.

The importance of staying on top of regulatory changes is certainly not one to ignore. Whilst it is important to stay on top of regulatory changes in order to ensure that workplace policies and procedures are in line with the law, it is even more important to ensure that your employees are aware of these high profile changes within the industry.The risk associated with not keeping on top of regulatory changes can be significantly reduced by taking our four key points above into consideration.