Opinion | Compliance Week

Columns and insights written by Compliance Week editorial staff or outside contributors.

  • AI use
    Opinion

    AI adoption without trust: A call for compliance professionals

    2025-09-16T18:39:00Z

    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.

  • AdobeStock_1276685060
    Opinion

    A friend for the compliance officer: Co-thinking with AI

    2025-09-03T11:37:00Z

    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?

  • United Arab Emirates
    Opinion

    Cross-border compliance: Lessons from the UAE for a globalized financial system

    2025-09-02T14:19:00Z

    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 ...

  • aml
    Opinion

    Why audit won’t save your anti-money laundering (AML) program

    2025-08-29T20:52:00Z

    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 ...

  • genius act
    Opinion

    The GENIUS Act: A new era for U.S. crypto regulation

    2025-08-27T20:12:00Z

    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 ...

  • iStock-533835003
    Opinion

    Five best practices for conducting effective investigations

    2025-08-25T19:13:00Z

    Companies face rising pressure to detect misconduct early. Strong internal investigations identify compliance issues, uphold regulations, and protect credibility.

  • AdobeStock_504951578
    Opinion

    Five best practices for running an effective internal investigations program

    2025-08-21T19:59:00Z

    In today’s complex and rapidly evolving regulatory compliance environment, organizations should have a thorough and effective internal investigations program in place to address any allegations of misconduct.

  • star trek
    Opinion

    AI governance, agentic misalignment and the lessons from ‘Star Trek’

    2025-08-19T14:07:00Z

    Does sci-fi predict the future of compliance or simply provide commentary on the current state of compliance? What is the role of corporate compliance around AI governance?

  • columnist_Sherr
    Opinion

    Compliance Week parent Verdian Insights acquires ECI membership, training and research efforts

    2025-07-17T22:39:00Z

    Compliance Week has always been focused on helping you do your job better. In the past few months since our acquisition by Verdian Insights, we’ve been proud to expand our efforts to include online community with CW Connect, job boards and resume sharing with CW Careers. These resources add to ...

  • Andrew McBride
    Opinion

    Excellence in Compliance highlights critical leadership in unstable times

    2025-04-29T12:22:00Z

    Doing your best isn’t just for when things are easy. And life in the compliance world has rarely been harder.

  • _AAB5105
    Opinion

    Our rapidly changing world still needs thoughtful compliance, now more than ever

    2025-04-28T18:47:00Z

    Sometimes, it feels like the only thing that’s certain is that tomorrow will be different from today. For an industry that’s focused on rules, regulations, and ethics, that lack of consistency can seem overwhelming. That’s why the next few days will matter so much.

  • Markus Hornburg web
    Opinion

    Why are CFOs struggling to stay compliant?

    2025-03-11T14:37:00Z

    CFOs are tasked with overseeing an organization’s entire financial processes, not least ensuring that financial operations remain compliant with the multitude of global regulations. It’s a heavy burden to carry that might be alleviated slightly with the help of artificial intelligence, writes Markus Hornburg, head of compliance at Basware.

  • columnist_Sherr
    Opinion

    Compliance Week acquired by Verdian Insights as CW expands membership efforts

    2025-03-04T15:11:00Z

    When I think of CW, I think about helping you do your job better. Sometimes, that means events where you share and learn from peers. Other times, it means publishing stories or case studies that spotlight truths you need to know, while looking around the bend at what’s next, too.

  • columnist dale
    Opinion

    Five reasons why I’m excited about CW’s Cyber Risk & Data Privacy Summit

    2025-01-30T16:32:00Z

    Having worked for Compliance Week for three years, I’ve found it remarkable how compliance professionals can be so consistently upbeat about their plight. An often refrain in compliance circles is “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” As difficult as the job can be, that clearly doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

  • Ericsson
    Opinion

    Ericsson's 'integrity journey' post-FCPA settlement top compliance triumph of 2024

    2024-12-24T13:45:00Z

    It’s been a long “integrity journey” for Ericsson, according to the company’s Head of Compliance Global Affairs Alison Howell. Since settling with the DOJ over FCPA violations in 2019, the company has gone through a "business critical transformation," resulting in the end of its compliance monitorship.

  • columnist dale
    Opinion

    Five more compliance triumphs of 2024

    2024-12-24T13:00:00Z

    Whether you’re a multinational telecommunications company looking to certify your anti-corruption program post-settlement, or a biochemical company victimized by a “rogue” employee, seeing the light at the end of the enforcement tunnel isn’t always easy.

  • iran_sanctions_web
    Opinion

    German firm Aiotec to pay $14.5M to settle Iran sanctions violation

    2024-12-03T21:32:00Z

    German petrochemical parts supplier Aiotec agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle allegations that it engaged in a four-year conspiracy to dismantle and ship a plastics manufacturing plant owned by a U.S. company to Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions.

  • McDevitt_opinion
    Opinion

    Book review: Larry D. Thompson’s memoir revisits lessons from VW, Enron, and PepsiCo.

    2024-11-25T14:04:00Z

    Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson participated in landmark legal cases, such as the Justice Department’s Enron investigation and the Volkswagen Independent Compliance Monitorship. Now his memoir looks back on his extensive career in compliance, offering profound insights into corporate culture, diversity, ethics, and integrity. 

  • columnist_Sherr
    Opinion

    Ian Sherr joins Compliance Week as its new editor-in-chief

    2024-09-03T13:47:00Z

    New Compliance Week Editor-In-Chief Ian Sherr shares his thoughts on where compliance is headed as businesses meet the realities of not just following the rules, but staying ahead of the pace of regulatory change at a global scale. 

  • columnist dale
    Opinion

    Top-of-mind takeaways from TPRM Summit

    2024-06-17T21:11:00Z

    Top-of-mind issues addressed at Compliance Week’s Third-Party Risk Management & Oversight Summit, held June 3-4 in Atlanta, included safe deployment of artificial intelligence, assessing vendor viability and sustainability, understanding the role of procurement in risk ranking, the intersection (or lack thereof) between data privacy and cybersecurity, and many others.