Safely leveraging generative AI: A practical guide for compliance leaders
Generative AI (GenAI) has moved rapidly from experimentation into day-to-day use across many organizations. Over the past year, teams have shifted from exploratory pilots to relying on these tools for core activities such as contract analysis, research, and software development.
The illusion of control: How shrinking teams and AI are redefining cyber risk
Over recent years, cybersecurity executives have been tasked with an almost impossible Challenge: reduce headcount, accelerate transformation, integrate artificial intelligence, meet regulatory obligations, and still maintain resilience.
National Fraud Enforcement Division: A dangerous escalation of compliance risk
Chief compliance officers and general counsel, beware: The Trump administration’s merging of its whole-of-government enforcement approach with its political agenda forewarns of escalating compliance risk on a national scale.
Best practices for responding to government investigations
In the current business environment, companies must have a documented plan for responding to government investigations. Shifts in tariffs, dynamic export controls, and a potentially less strict enforcement environment around international bribery all increase the risk that an employee or representative could violate the law – inadvertently or intentionally.
Why “just do the work” fails in regulated organizations
Most organizational failures are not failures of effort, discipline, or follow-through. They are interpretation failures misdiagnosed as execution problems.
Creating effective compliance messages for specific employee groups
As 2026 arrives, have you considered the efficacy of your compliance messaging efforts? We have all seen these compliance taglines “Speak Up!,” “See Something, Say Something,” “Ethics Matter!”
Teaching the business to speak risk
Compliance professionals understand the value of risk assessments. We conduct them annually, map risks to controls, and present heat maps to the board. But there is a strategic opportunity that many compliance programs overlook: Teaching the business itself to think in the language of risk.
SOX was built for humans. AI doesn’t fit that model.
For more than two decades, assurance and compliance frameworks have rested on a simple assumption: Material decisions are made by people. Post‑Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) assurance reset worked because it aligned accountability with human behavior. That assumption shapes how internal controls are designed, how accountability is assigned, and how assurance is ...
Managing the permanent tension between compliance and business delivery
Business delivery runs on market deadlines. Compliance runs on regulatory mandates.
Six AI questions compliance officers must answer in 2026
As artificial intelligence reshapes business, compliance teams face new questions about risk and oversight. These are the key issues compliance professionals should be asking as they evaluate their programs heading into 2026.
How banks are responsibly embedding machine learning and GenAI into AML surveillance
As financial crime grows in scale, speed, and sophistication, banks are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative AI to strengthen anti-money laundering and surveillance programs.
Congress is about to regulate crypto. Criminals are ready.
Congress is moving toward rules for cryptocurrency. That’s overdue. For years, crypto markets have grown faster than the laws meant to ensure they aren’t exploited by criminals.
Experts outline core skills compliance teams need to develop in 2026
Compliance teams will face a range of ongoing challenges in the coming year, as well as greater demands from boards and management for better, wider, and more real-time assurance on an increasing range of risk topics.
Tech and compliance 2026: What to watch for in AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing
What will be the critical tech issues for compliance in 2026? We asked experts what tech, digital, and cyber issues they believe compliance teams should be focusing on in the year ahead.
Tips for making AI tools more compliant in 2026
AI mistakes can lead to viral news stories and, sometimes, big legal bills. How can compliance managers learn from past mishaps and protect their organizations as AI becomes increasingly integrated into every part of our working lives? We asked experts what compliance should do to make sure AI toes the ...
Top of mind compliance topics in 2026: Finance, immigration, supply chains and sustainability
What will you be doing in the coming year? We asked experts in a range of sectors to gaze into their crystal balls and highlight one legal development or compliance topic that will be critical for compliance teams in 2026. This is an edited version of what they told us.
Top Ethics and Compliance Triumphs of 2025
This year’s compliance triumphs were all born out of compliance fails. In some cases, it was a regulator finding fault and demanding change. In others, acquiring companies noticed something a little fishy in their new acquisition. What formed a compliance triumph in every case wasn’t the mistake; it was the ...
Bribery exposure doesn’t start with policy failure. It starts with training.
Anti-bribery and corruption failures in financial institutions rarely stem from bad policies.
What 2025’s AI mishaps should teach compliance in 2026
If 2025 was the year generative AI took off in organizations in every sector, it was also the year we saw increasing examples of the risks of AI mishaps.
Building resilient teams in cyberdefense
The stress on cyberdefense teams can be accurately described as a form of chronic occupational trauma stemming from several unique pressures. But there are ways to build a culture that combats these pressures.
The invisible cost of digital defense on mental health
Cybersecurity professionals, particularly those in leadership roles, often face immense pressure and stress due to the constant threat of cyberattacks.
FINRA’s GenAI wake-up call: What compliance professionals must do now
FINRA’s rules are intended to be technologically neutral. They apply when companies use GenAI or similar technologies in their businesses, just as they apply when companies use any other technology or tool. But what does that mean for a compliance professional using GenAI?
How to identify and mitigate risks posed by Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025, the Trump Administration has made it a priority to expand the list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Misused 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.
What 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.
Emerging 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.
How 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.
Why 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.
Write supply chain resilience into the contract
The only thing constant is change. Shouldn’t we be ready for that in our contracts?
The 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.
Turning 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.
The 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.
Who 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.
When 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.
Q&A with former FCPA Unit chief Charles Duross on the DOJ’s monitorship policy
Compliance Week recently interviewed Charles Duross, former Chief of the DOJ’s Fraud Section’s FCPA Unit, to talk about the Department of Justice’s recently revised monitorship policy.
Agentic 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.
The 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.
The 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.
How to promote a positive compliance culture – and why behavior matters.
No matter what compliance managers do, people continue to disregard rules. Sandro Boeri, president of the U.K.’s Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, says a new mandatory standard for internal audit teams can help.
Q&A with Olga Kozak-Anlar of Robinhood Markets
Compliance Week Editor-in-Chief Aaron Nicodemus recently interviewed Olga Kozak-Anlar, Compliance AI Lead at Robinhood Markets Incorporated, about her role at Robinhood and the company’s use of AI.
Beyond 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.
What 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.
Risk-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.
Evidentiary 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.
Kristy 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.
Carrie Penman: Putting the “E” back in ethics and compliance
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 ...
Lisa Johnson: What the compliance profession means to me
After completing law school, I accepted a role in the Hearings group with the Nasdaq Stock Market. I did not have any previous experience or desire to enter the financial services industry, but was fascinated by the regulatory body and its goal to protect individual investor interests.
Taneesha Routier: Compliance en blanc
I liken my career in compliance to the movie and international social staple known as “Le Diner En Blanc.”
Timothy Miller: To be a compliance officer is to be a guardian of trust
I am often asked, when I speak at conferences, “Why compliance as a career?” To be completely transparent and honest, when I first started my career, what I was doing was not called “compliance” per se.
Jacquelyn Pruet: Compliance of the future—A value driver, not a cost center
No budgets. No resources. Some of the worst issues our companies have to offer. Executives expecting miracles. Employees afraid to come to us. We are both the police and the shield, the answer everyone needs, and yet often given nothing to answer with.