Some 47 per cent of respondents from Fortune 1000 companies said their departments had boosted personnel during the last year, according to a survey conducted by Maryland-based consultancy Consero. While a similar proportion – 41 per cent – said their staff remained static. Another 12 per cent saw a drop in numbers.

Complex regulation

Department budgets rose accordingly, said the researchers, with another 47 per cent of departmental heads saying they saw an increase. Only 8 per cent of their colleagues were forced to endure a decrease to their finances.
However, the same percentage that saw an increase in staff said they did not have sufficient resources to manage their companies’ compliance programmes effectively. According to the researchers, that figure reflects a growing concern among compliance chiefs that ‘the increasingly complex international regulatory landscape seems to present new risks and challenges with alarming regularity, creating more strain on compliance departments’.

Integrity objectives

Concern was also expressed over the effectiveness of corporate appraisal and incentive programmes. Some 55 per cent of survey respondents said those schemes currently did not support their compliance and integrity objectives.
Commented the researchers: ‘This is an important area where chief compliance officers may wish to direct more of their focus. Steering employees toward compliant and ethical behaviour is an obvious critical step in minimising corporate risk.’