Good companies continuously ask themselves: what are we doing now to prepare for the future? When it comes to regulatory technology (RegTech), and specifically compliance technology, the temptation to brush off this task with rationale related to cost, necessity,
or implementation effort could come at a big price, more resources required, time spent down the line and opportunities lost.
No matter the highly-regulated industry, whether it be insurance, banking, energy, education, or others, C-Suite executives are increasingly turning to RegTech to help automate and connect digitised business documents and artefacts that require governance,
review and oversight. Compliance technology will soon no longer be considered ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’ tool in a business’s toolkit as thousands of new regulations dictate how a business must behave. To add to that complexity, this is happening across
multiple locations as companies expand to different jurisdictions and apply for different and new licenses.
For example, the CEO of a financial institution of 50 employees may believe he doesn’t need to invest in a policy management tool right now. But a futuristic leader should be identifying core solutions that will help grow the company earlier rather than
later. Most CEO’s want to grow in any circumstance, but that forward thinking CEO wants to grow in a way that is scalable and sustainable from day one. Sustainability can look like this: Imagine your entire compliance department leaves the business tomorrow.
Would another group of compliance professionals be able to come in and pick up where they left off with ease? Would processes be clearly defined, categorized, and digitized?
These are questions every highly-regulated business owner should ask themselves. Often, the decision to invest in compliance technology is reactive rather than proactive: regulators are knocking on the door, requesting documentation of policy attestation
and compliance; company leaders are scrambling to get their compliance documents organized as they work to apply for entrance into a new market or jurisdiction. If only those leaders had been forward-thinking could they avoid being overwhelmed.
And compliance technology isn’t all the same, it doesn’t come with a one-size-fits-all approach. Most SaaS vendors, such as Clausematch, price on a license-based model. This allows businesses to control costs and purchase only what’s needed - beginning
with a few licenses and modules and adding more when necessary. Establishing processes within the compliance technology can only push a company forward, no matter the size.
Highly-regulated companies we speak to continue to recognize their siloed work approach, out-of-date practices, and ‘long’ and ‘difficult to understand’ documents. RegTech companies are bringing those industries into the 21st century with partnerships to
help bridge those gaps and clear the hurdles of compliance.
Perhaps the most promising part of investing in compliance technology, no matter the size of a business, is that there are solid, credible, affordable options available. And they continue to come to market so working toward a compliant future can be a reality
for all businesses.