By Christine Lawson (MIFM)
The Compliance Function at an Inflection Point
For decades, compliance has operated as a downstream control – reviewing decisions after they are made, identifying gaps after risks materialise, and remediating issues after the fact. In today’s environment, that model is no longer simply inefficient. It has become a risk in itself.
The convergence of regulatory reform and technological change is placing compliance under structural pressure. Across industry forums – including ICA and IFCA gatherings and the inaugural IFCA and CISA Joint Summit, which included a dedicated panel on skills and the future compliance professional – a consistent theme is emerging: compliance is increasingly being viewed not simply as a function, but as a leadership capability embedded in how organisations make decisions.
At the same time, regulatory signals from the FSCA and the trajectory of the COFI framework point in the same direction. The question is no longer whether compliance must evolve. It is whether firms are keeping pace with what that evolution demands.
