When the regulator knocks, will you be ready? - Nabarro
When the regulator knocks, will you be ready? - Nabarro
When the regulator knocks, will you be ready? - Nabarro
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Executive summary<br />
More than half of <strong>the</strong> respondents to our survey were not aware that<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir businesses were regulated by <strong>the</strong> Environment Agency, <strong>the</strong> Office<br />
of Fair Trading or <strong>the</strong> Pensions Regulator, despite <strong>the</strong> fact that all of <strong>the</strong>se<br />
watchdogs have jurisdiction over every company operating in <strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, a significant proportion of those surveyed did not realise that<br />
<strong>the</strong> European Commission and <strong>the</strong> Health and Safety Executive had powers<br />
over <strong>the</strong>ir activities.<br />
Despite this apparent ignorance, 87% of <strong>the</strong> individuals we questioned agreed<br />
that <strong>the</strong> level of regulation and scrutiny facing <strong>the</strong>ir companies had increased<br />
over <strong>the</strong> last five years, often resulting in heightened workloads and a greater<br />
administrative burden <strong>be</strong>cause of tighter controls on internal procedures.<br />
The responsibility for dealing with <strong>the</strong> reputational risks posed by <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>regulator</strong>s falls to <strong>the</strong> main board at 67% of <strong>the</strong> companies in our poll, and<br />
in <strong>the</strong> vast majority of cases, those responsibilities are never shared with<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r mem<strong>be</strong>rs of <strong>the</strong> business through training sessions. In all 70% of those<br />
interviewed said that <strong>the</strong>y had never run a training programme for <strong>the</strong>ir staff<br />
on diversity matters – despite <strong>the</strong> fact that employment tribunals have powers<br />
to hand out unlimited fines for discrimination cases – and 69% had never<br />
trained employees on environmental regulations.<br />
Therefore, whilst <strong>the</strong>re is a general appreciation of <strong>the</strong> increasing impact<br />
of <strong>regulator</strong>y bodies, it is clear that in most companies <strong>the</strong>re is a limited<br />
understanding of compliance obligations, and staff across <strong>the</strong> wider<br />
organisation are rarely kept abreast of <strong>regulator</strong>y responsibilities.<br />
This survey was carried out in 2007. A total of 70 telephone interviews were<br />
conducted with senior professionals in a range of listed companies, private<br />
firms and financial institutions operating in <strong>the</strong> UK.