Compliance crucial for prosperous businesses – PLMJ

Clients now realise that good compliance facilitates, rather than obstructs, the development of businesses while also limiting reputational risks

Clients are increasingly aware that an effective compliance programme is vital for commercial success, according to PLMJ partner Ricardo Oliveira.
“In my experience, clients think a solid compliance programme is a condition for success of the company and not an obstacle to achieving that success,” he says. Oliveira adds that companies are paying a lot of attention to the reputational risks associated with non-compliance. He adds: “There are also financial risks related to non-compliance, which in certain sectors are very heavy.”
Oliveira says that the need for companies to protect their image is greater than it was in the past. “Information is flowing more rapidly all the time, and social networks are gaining in importance – for big companies, like multinationals, this [protecting image] has always been a given, but this has not been so much the case with smaller companies,” he adds. “But in this more integrated world in which information flows more, it is bound to be the case that this concern with reputational issues also reaches companies of a smaller dimension like SMEs.”
Companies need to be more proactive in their approach to compliance, according to Oliveira. “The euro crisis put a bigger strain on companies’ budgets – this resulted in companies reacting to problems, but this is not sustainable.”