When I first stepped into this profession, my title was not “Chief Compliance Officer.” It was “Ethics Officer.” At Westinghouse, I was tasked with launching a program that, at the time, felt experimental: a global, enterprise-wide ethics initiative built not on rules, but on values. I traded in my career as a scientist for something untested, something new. And to my surprise, I had found what I was truly meant to do.
Opinion
Posted inEthics & Culture
Rezaul Karim: What the compliance profession means to me
When I look back on my career as a compliance officer, I often have mixed feelings. Of course, neither is it a glamorous job, nor is it always well understood by those outside of this profession, but it is an extremely important profession nowadays. On National Compliance Officer Day, I want to reflect on what this profession means to me, and why I believe it is more important than ever.
Posted inEthics & Culture
Alishia Farr: Building a culture of compliance
For me, being a compliance professional is not about checking boxes or reacting only when issues evolve, it’s about building and sustaining a culture. At its core, compliance is about honesty, courage, and standing firm in the moment, even when it’s uncomfortable or difficult.
Posted inNational Compliance Officer Day
National Compliance Officer Day 2025 – What does the job mean to you?
Compliance officers do not have easy jobs. They’ve got to navigate ever-changing regulations, follow trends in their own industry and other parts of the world, while also managing the internal culture of their organizations. It’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of pressure.
Posted inBest Practices, Opinion
Why regulators, boards, and compliance leaders can no longer afford to defer critical choices
Decision debt is the practice of leaving key compliance decisions unresolved, and it is a crisis few compliance leaders are willing to name. Some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including Wells Fargo and Citibank, have learned this lesson the hard way.
Posted inRisk Management
AI adoption without trust: A call for compliance professionals
Employees are adopting AI faster than companies can build policies, governance, and training. That gap creates compliance exposure in areas from data privacy to shadow IT to workplace equity.
Posted inBest Practices
A friend for the compliance officer: Co-thinking with AI
At their core, compliance officers are problem-solvers. They wrestle with thorny questions every day: How do we implement a global gifts-and-entertainment policy across jurisdictions with vastly different cultural norms? How do we balance business pressures with anti-corruption obligations? How do we address new risks like AI itself?
Posted inAML
Cross-border compliance: Lessons from the UAE for a globalized financial system
Financial ecosystems are no longer confined within national boundaries. Money, technology, and risks flow seamlessly across jurisdictions, creating unprecedented challenges for compliance officers. From sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations to the rise of virtual assets, the compliance function must now navigate a complex, cross-border landscape where regulators, institutions, and technologies often move at different speeds.
Posted inAML
Why audit won’t save your anti-money laundering (AML) program
In financial institutions across the United States, there’s a reflex that’s become almost ritual.
When a regulator walks in, or a board member asks whether the AML program is working, the answer is the same: “We just passed audit.” It’s delivered with confidence, sometimes even pride, as if the risk has been neutralized. But passing audit doesn’t mean your program is safe.
It doesn’t mean it’s effective. And in today’s threat landscape, it doesn’t mean much of anything at all.
Posted inCryptocurrency and Digital Assets, Opinion
The GENIUS Act: A new era for U.S. crypto regulation
For years, stablecoin regulation was stuck in an uncertain legal gray zone with no clear rules until the GENIUS Act arrived as a turning point. For the first time, a concrete federal framework has drawn a line by requiring reserves to be held, demanding transparency, and putting consumer protections front and center.