Rest up for an active 2013

The regulatory and compliance landscape is rarely this active. Compliance officers, internal auditors, risk managers, lawyers, GRC managers, IT GRC pros, security  executives and corporate board members all found themselves with thorny challenges to confront all year.

An interesting study from Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk & Compliance earlier this year found that compliance professionals around the world report they are "struggling to keep up with the growing demands of global regulation…A combination of rapidly growing regulations and increasing responsibilities for compliance professionals, coupled with limited resources and constrained budgets, are raising concerns that compliance teams have reached saturation point in their ability to successfully manage compliance."

Budgets are tight, risks are high, and the number of regulations continues to explode. Regulators globally announced 14,215 changes in 2011, a 16 percent increase from the 12,179 announcements in 2010. The data is expected to show another increase for 2012, which means many of the trends established last year will continue in 2013.

I'll be sure to continue to comment on the biggest GRC issues in a timely fashion. As for now, please enjoy the holiday season. You deserve a break. -Jim