External law firms add value on compliance – pbbr

External legal advisers add considerable value to clients in relation to compliance matters as they are able to share information about best practice followed by other businesses, according to Pbbr partner Alexandre Jardim.

“External advisers’ experience with other clients can be shared and this is definitely an advantage to the client,” Jardim says. “A long term view of regulatory compliance should be taken and a strategic approach should be adopted – external legal advisers have a really important role to play in making clients understand that.”
Jardim adds that clients are concerned about doing business in a compliant manner. “Clients’ concern is understanding the regulation and how they can develop their business without thinking of regulation as a burden or as something that restricts their activities,” he says. It is important that clients do not view regulation and compliance as restrictive, according to Jardim. “It should be seen as a way to implement activity in a sound and profitable manner,” he says. There is a lot of regulation in the banking sector, in particular, Jardim says. “The main challenge for clients is to know and  understand regulation, and implement it.”