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Regulatory compliance

society Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Compliance means following specific rules. These rules can be laws, policies, or standards. Organizations aim to be aware of these rules. They take steps to follow them every day. This helps them stay organized and safe. Some people use deterrence theory to explain this. This theory says that punishing bad behavior stops it. It stops the person who did wrong. It also stops others from doing the same thing.

There are different ways to motivate people. One way is using extrinsic motivation. This means giving rewards or fines for certain actions. Some research shows this can be tricky. Giving rewards might actually weaken a person's own drive. This is called intrinsic motivation. When intrinsic motivation goes away, people might follow rules less. Because of this, many groups use consolidated controls. These controls help meet many requirements at once. This stops people from doing the same work twice.

Many different groups create these rules. The rules change depending on the industry. In finance, groups use PCI-DSS or GLBA. In healthcare, people follow HIPAA or Joint Commission rules. Food companies use a system called HACCP. Some groups use frameworks like COBIT or NIST. International groups like ISO also help. They created ISO 37301:2021 to help businesses. This standard helps compliance and risk work together. It is like they are colleagues.

Rules are often different in every country. In Australia, the APRA regulates superannuation funds. They check if funds have enough resources. They also check if leaders have the right skills. Canada has two main groups for finance. These are the OSFI and FINTRAC. FINTRAC works because of a law from 2001. The European Union uses a shared legal framework. They have the GDPR for data privacy. They also use the GPSR for product safety.

In the United States, rules became much tighter recently. This happened after big company mistakes like Enron in 2001. Two leaders created the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. This law makes top managers more responsible. They must ensure financial reports are accurate. Another important law is the Dodd-Frank Act. The government also uses the OFAC agency. OFAC enforces trade sanctions for national security. These rules help keep the economy and people safe.

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