Cybercrime and national critical infrastructure responsibilities are key concerns for retail energy sector compliance. Resilience is vital for companies that keep the lights on and power financial institutions and hospitals.

Sustainability and carbon emissions are adding to the compliance brief. As lawmakers require more rigorous sustainability reporting, demands for accurate emissions data passes down the supply chain, driven by the contractual demands of customers. In the U.K., the new Failure to Prevent Fraud offense makes criminal cases for greenwashing more likely.

Ruth Prickett graduated from Cambridge University with a BA hons in History and has specialized in business and finance journalism for the past 20 years. She was editor of Financial Management, the magazine...