We've been discussing the status of compliance executives and managers for quite a while now. The conventional wisdom is that such employees are in heavier demand these days, as compliance and GRC-oriented issues have become higher priorities. The title of "chief compliance officer" still doesn't command the respect that, say, "chief risk officer" does, but still, it's seen as a critical executive position. We'll likely see more companies embrace both jobs in the near future.

The SEC wants to do its part in empowering compliance executives. Reuters reports the SEC is aiming to involve more top executives of financial services companies in compliance routine meetings, in part to raise the profile of top compliance executives and underscore the importance of the issue. So it appears that we'll be seeing more and more CEOs and CFOs showing up at these sessions. In the past, the top compliance executive was the most the SEC examiners could hope for.

This could be a two-edged sword for compliance officers. They could look good in front of the top executives or they could look really bad.

"In the worst cases, top executives might ignore or even fire the compliance officer for alerting them to a problem the firm needs to address, compliance professionals say. Among the thornier issues compliance professionals say could lead to retaliation against a CCO are reporting that an executive is running a lucrative outside business without the firm's permission, or recommending termination of a top-producing broker who routinely sells unsuitable investments to clients."

The issue could get pretty dense, and compliance officers cannot count on granular knowledge on the part of their CEO. At the same time, the CEO will have no choice but to participate. Hopefully, he or she will take it seriously.  

For more:
- here's the article

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