Regulatory Compliance Software

Regulatory compliance software solutions typically function as online platforms that help organizations implement best-practice compliance processes that form part of an organizations broader Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) program. These tools allow firms to establish an ‘obligations register’ comprising relevant regulations, legislation, policies, and procedures, which are monitored for compliance. Companies oversee compliance tasks by setting up checks to ensure proper processes are in place and followed, using operational data pulled into the platform via API integrations, alongside regular checks conducted through workflows and online forms.

Leading regulatory compliance software solutions integrate with third-party regulatory content providers like LexisNexis, providing alerts on upcoming regulatory changes directly into the compliance program. This facilitates swift adaptation to affected personnel, policies, and procedures. Change management workflows within regulatory compliance platforms ensure efficient implementation of required adjustments.

Regulatory compliance management tools offer pre-configured workflows supporting adherence to major compliance frameworks such as ISO standards, GDPR, NIST, CPS 230, and PCI DSS. They automate processes for sanctions checks, supplier due diligence, and managing protocols for gifts, hospitality, anti-bribery measures, and conflicts of interest.

Most regulatory compliance platforms include dashboards and reporting features that offer comprehensive insights into compliance status, allowing teams to investigate areas needing attention. Many compliance software solutions also integrate risk management functionalities, providing a unified platform for assessing the impact of compliance breaches on the organization.

• A digital, searchable online library for housing applicable compliance regulations.
• Integration with third-party content providers to scan the regulatory horizon for changes – helping you to stay primed on regulatory intelligence.
• Workflows for managing and automating the regulatory change management process.
• Compliance frameworks, templates, and forms that align with major regulations and standards such as SOX, GDPR, CPS 230, HIPPA, PCI DSS, and various ISO standards.
• Templates for managing key compliance processes including:
  • Regulatory change management.
  • Conflicts of interest.
  • Whistleblowing and disclosures.
  • Gifts and hospitality.
  • Anti-bribery and corruption (ABAC).
  • Anti-money laundering (AML).
  • Sanctions checks.
• Automated compliance reporting – firms should seek regulatory compliance platforms that generate compliance reports automatically based on real-time compliance data.

Regulatory compliance software enables businesses to consolidate all compliance-related documents, policies, and procedures into a unified repository, ensuring easy access and currency of essential documentation. The software automates tracking and monitoring of compliance activities, generating regular status reports. It can be customized to align with specific regulatory requirements across various industries and jurisdictions.

Regulatory compliance tools provide automated regulatory horizon scanning to identify potential impacts of regulatory changes on the business. Upon receiving change notifications, automated workflows facilitate escalation and implementation while detailing affected processes, procedures, and policies for audit trail purposes.

Cloud-based regulatory compliance tools streamline processes and offer real-time insights to enhance compliance programs. User-friendly dashboards aid in issue management and assess control effectiveness, swiftly identifying potential compliance concerns and ensuring operations align with regulatory standards.

Regulatory compliance software can support financial services firms to stay compliant by building an ‘obligations register’ of applicable regulations and enabling firms to monitor compliance across multiple jurisdictions and countries ensuring embedded compliance processes.

Regulatory compliance software is essential for nearly all organizations, irrespective of their industry, as virtually every organization must adhere to mandatory regulations or industry standards. Industries with stringent regulations such as financial services, healthcare, education, gambling & gaming, and other financial institutions stand to benefit significantly from compliance monitoring software platforms. Additionally, organizations adhering to ISO standards like ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 31000, or compliance requirements such as GDPR, SOX, NIST, PCI DSS, and HIPPA will greatly enhance their operations by implementing a regulatory compliance platform.

• By enabling organizations to maintain an updated repository of relevant regulations, legal mandates, industry standards, and internal policies and procedures, ensuring thorough understanding of obligations and ongoing compliance through regulatory compliance management.
• By facilitating reporting on regulatory compliance status & activities and implementing workflows to promptly address areas of regulatory non-compliance – avoiding regulatory fines and penalties.
• By streamlining and automating compliance processes through automated workflows, instant notifications, real-time reporting, and intuitive dashboards that prioritize compliance tasks and clarify regulatory obligations – enabling firms to manage risk associated with non-compliance.
• By providing best-practice workflows for essential compliance checks such as conflicts of interest, whistleblowing and disclosures, gifts and hospitality, anti-bribery & corruption (ABAC), anti-money laundering (AML), and sanctions checks.
• By facilitating adherence to key compliance frameworks with pre-configured templates and forms – establishing a compliant operational environment.
• By empowering teams with risk assessment templates to evaluate the impact of non-compliance – including effective supply chain risk management and vendor regulatory compliance.
• Regulatory compliance platforms provide deep insights into areas of regulatory non-compliance allowing firms to anticipate risk and take the appropriate action to maintain compliance with applicable regulations – strengthening their compliance program.
• Software regulatory compliance offers a structured compliance management system that supports teams in adhering to requirements with minimal training, fostering collaboration, productivity, and informed decision-making.
• Regulatory compliance solutions allow firms to navigate complex regulatory landscapes across different regions and jurisdictions by examining global requirements and applying them on a local basis.
• Regulatory compliance platforms also support organizations to manage compliance with data privacy regulations like SIO 27001, GDPR, NIST, and HIPPA.
• Regulatory compliance platforms provide organization wide compliance programs that support operational sustainability challenges – as compliant operations typically secure more business and achieve more success as they offer reliable, trustworthy operations with high standards.

When evaluating regulatory compliance solutions, companies must consider:

• Does the regulatory compliance system provide API integrations with other systems and data sources to ensure a unified source of compliance data?
• Does the regulatory platform include workflows for conflicts of interest, whistleblowing and disclosures, gifts & hospitality, anti-bribery & corruption (ABAC), anti-money laundering (AML), and sanctions checks?
• Does the regulatory compliance platform feature robust policy management capabilities following best practices?
• Does the regulatory compliance tool offer templates to align with major compliance frameworks such as ISO standards, GDPR, SOX, NIST, PCI DSS, HIPPA, Basel III, COSO, and SOC?
• Is the regulatory compliance solution highly customizable, allowing adjustment to out-of-the-box processes to fit your specific organizational requirements?
• Do the security features of the regulatory compliance platform meet your IT team’s requirements and hold certifications like ISO 27001, SOC Type 1 & 2, and Cyber Essentials?
• Does the compliance regulatory platform offer regulatory horizon scanning by connecting with content providers to deliver real-time notifications of regulatory changes?
• What reporting capabilities does the compliance management platform offer, and do they align with both internal needs and regulatory requirements?
• Does the regulatory compliance tool include other GRC capabilities within the same platform, such as risk management, cyber risk management, third-party risk management, incident reporting, strategic planning, ESG, and project management? Look for risk & compliance systems that offer these functionalities to support the future scalability and maturity of your compliance program, enabling integrated GRC practices.
• Does the regulatory compliance platform provide an audit trail of regulatory compliance activities and sufficient reporting outputs to satisfy both internal stakeholders and regulatory bodies?
• Does the regulatory compliance platform address data protection requirements, offer compliance frameworks for GDPR and NIST, and provide capabilities for cyber risk management and cyber incident reporting to ensure comprehensive IT GRC solutions?
• Does the pricing model of the regulatory compliance platform align with your budget – enabling you to reduce costs through automation?
• Does the regulatory compliance solution provide the ability to map all regulations to internal policies and procedures, legal entities, business units, people, products, and services ensuring legal compliance?
• Does the regulatory compliance platform have integrated AI capabilities and machine learning to easily analyze compliance data?
• Does the compliance platform enable you to set regulatory controls and carry out regular control checks and testing to ensure the organization remains compliant and streamlines regulation management?
• The best regulatory compliance management tools automate reporting through intuitive dashboards, facilitating clear visibility of upcoming compliance tasks for timely completion by teams.

• Managing compliance manually leads to poor quality compliance data, attributed to factors such as inadequate data governance, errors in data entry, copy-and-paste mistakes, overwritten data, and incomplete fields.
• Manual regulatory compliance processes scatter compliance data across disparate and unconnected spreadsheets, resulting in low data quality that distorts reporting outputs and hampers effective decision-making.
• Relying on manual processes without automation slows down regulatory compliance efforts, increasing the likelihood of non-compliance and associated risks. Regulatory compliance software enables you to stay ahead of risk and coordinate and standardize compliance efforts.
• Informal manual processes hinder firms from demonstrating regulatory compliance due to fragmented documentation.
• Disconnected processes and isolated data silos make it challenging to link regulatory compliance obligations with relevant controls, policies, risks, audits, and incidents.
• Inconsistent risk frameworks and segregated data prevent firms from comparing regulatory compliance data across different sites, complicating the verification of regulatory compliance across departments and locations.

When researching the pros and cons of regulatory compliance software, firms should consider the following benefits:

• A regulatory compliance tool enhances regulatory compliance by utilizing regulatory horizon scanning technology and automated change management workflows.
• Regulatory compliance management tools mitigate potential compliance risks through proactive management of regulatory compliance-related issues ensuring effective risk and compliance management.
• Regulatory compliance systems allow firms to manage regulatory compliance by generating automated compliance reports to facilitate efficient record-keeping, offering substantial evidence of compliance to regulators.
• Product compliance management software automates tasks such as monitoring, reporting, and auditing, alleviating the administrative burden on staff and minimizing human error – ensuring adequate data management supply.
• Regulatory compliance software fosters a compliant culture where staff are well-informed about and adhere to policies and regulations, with the ability to attest to them online – ensuring the organizations collectively meets regulatory compliance requirements.
• Regulatory compliance management software delivers cost savings by reducing compliance monitoring expenses and decreasing occurrences of compliance violations, fines, and penalties.
• Regulatory compliance management solutions offer supply chain sustainability by ensuring vendors and third parties are operating in line with any required regulations and industry standards.
• Regulatory compliance management solutions enable firms to ensure compliance with health & safety regulations ensuring safety management master data that provides adequate proof of compliance.