Opinion | Compliance Week
Columns and insights written by Compliance Week editorial staff or outside contributors.
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OpinionMisused and abused: What the President’s pardon power would do to your compliance team
President Donald Trump’s unprecedented misuse and abuse of a pardon power that dates back 250 years serves as a real-world scenario of what can happen when a system of checks-and-balances – like, say, a corporate ethics and compliance program – is upended by a tyrannical executive.
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OpinionWhat the Copilot Usage Report 2025 Means for Corporate Compliance
Microsoft’s Copilot Usage Report 2025 offers compliance professionals a rare, data-driven look at how artificial intelligence is actually being used by millions of people, rather than how organizations assume it is being used.
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OpinionEmerging antitrust risks in the expanded use of AI
Concerns over competitors using AI pricing tools to fix prices have dominated antitrust discussions in the U.S. and EU. Recent cases show how algorithmic pricing might enable unlawful coordination.
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OpinionHow to make the business case to upgrade records management systems
Companies are giving their records management programs a makeover, and not for the reasons you may think. What used to be a sleepy back-office legal department function is now front and center, often driven by compliance teams. Organizations are discovering that a “save everything, forever” de facto policy doesn’t ...
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OpinionWhy the EU’s new Machinery Regulation is a wake-up call on cybersecurity
The European manufacturing industry is on the cusp of a regulatory shift that promises to reshape how machines are designed and operated.
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OpinionWrite supply chain resilience into the contract
The only thing constant is change. Shouldn’t we be ready for that in our contracts?
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OpinionThe AI audit burden: Why ‘Explainable AI’ is the key
AI decisions are only defensible when the reasoning behind them is visible, traceable, and auditable. Explainable AI delivers that visibility, turning black-box outputs into documented logic that compliance officers can stand behind when regulators, auditors, or stakeholders demand answers.
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OpinionTurning compliance into a competitive advantage in defense tech
For emerging defense tech companies to take full advantage of acquisition reforms and increased funding, they will need to overcome a defining feature of the U.S. defense industry: It is highly regulated, and will likely remain so.
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OpinionThe rise of the AI compliance officer
As AI reshapes business operations and regulators move quickly, companies increasingly need a dedicated AI compliance officer to ensure ethical, transparent, and accountable deployment.
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OpinionWho is leading the fight against confidence scams, and who should?
Internet-enabled scams are drawing national attention, with authorities treating them as organized transnational crimes. The FBI says confidence schemes now make up a significant share of online fraud, prompting questions about how the private sector is responding.
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OpinionWhen stability fails: Why over-optimization creates organizational brittleness
Most organizations would say they value stability. Predictable operations, consistent output, and well-defined processes are generally considered marks of maturity. The assumption is simple: if a system can be made reliable, it becomes resilient.
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OpinionAgentic AI and the policy blind spot: Why security can’t wait
The current AI policy and regulation landscape is still emerging globally. While some regulations and standards exist, governments, industry, and security leaders have critical gaps to close, especially around agentic artificial intelligence.
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OpinionThe CFO, AI, and the New Compliance Frontier
As CFOs use AI to streamline operations, they face new compliance risks tied to accountability and algorithmic governance. CCOs must work with them to ensure transparency and oversight throughout adoption.
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OpinionThe Compliance - Audit gap in ESG and financial reporting
ESG reporting has moved from a voluntary PR exercise to an expectation for regulators and investors, but the compliance audit gap now threatens credibility.
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OpinionBeyond the Binder: Policy governance in practice
Most compliance professionals have faced it: a regulator or client requests a policy, and several slightly different “final” versions appear. The issue often stems from reactive, siloed work without a unified governance framework.
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OpinionWhat compliance can learn from a 95 percent AI pilot failure rate
Compliance professionals have long known that systems fail when governance does. An MIT study’s finding that 95 percent of enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) pilots fail underscores how essential compliance-grade discipline is to the success of emerging technologies.
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OpinionRisk-Based AML only works if the C-suite agrees what ‘risk’ means
Banks emphasize risk-based compliance in their AML programs, citing it to regulators and embedding it in policy, yet many institutions still handle risk very differently in practice.
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OpinionEvidentiary Debt: The blind spot liability
On a gray Tuesday morning, the audit seemed routine. A stack of binders sat on the table, the compliance officer was confident, and the regulator’s tone was cordial. Then came the question that changed everything.
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OpinionTracing Illicit Crypto: How to leverage blockchain analytics for effective AML compliance
Cryptocurrency’s transparency can be exploited for laundering, ransomware, and darknet activity. Blockchain analytics helps trace funds and flag suspicious behavior.
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OpinionKristy Grant-Hart: Why I Chose to Be a Compliance and Ethics Officer
When people ask me why I chose to be a compliance and ethics officer, my answer is simple: because what we do changes the world.


