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DEREK SMITH: How to combat threats to corporate reputation

One of the most significant threats to a company’s long-term viability is reputation risk. This is often referred to as the risk stemming from negative public perceptions. The consequences of a tarnished reputation can be severe and lasting, regardless of how well a company performs in other risk management areas.

DEREK SMITH: Balancing the risks of working at home

There is no doubt that remote working will continue to grow. With remote work becoming a significant business practice, it has quickly risen to the top of many executives’ agendas and become a vital component of talent attraction, employee retention and staff satisfaction. According to Deloitte & Touche’s Global Remote Work Survey, “over 80 percent of organisations have implemented some form of remote work policy”.

DEREK SMITH: A firm’s greatest assets can also be major risk

People can be a company’s most valuable asset if well-managed, but also represent a significant risk. Defending, equipping and motivating this critical asset requires human resources (HR) and risk management to break down silos and collaborate. To address the inherent risk posed by human capital, a human resources/ employee risk assessment must be considered.

DEREK SMITH: Firms won’t be ‘board’ by 2023 corporate challenge

Volatility appears to be further increasing in an already-shaky environment.

DEREK SMITH: Don’t ignore risks with digital assets

According to the International Association of Compliance (ICA), “the global virtual assets regulatory landscape is a patchwork of differing approaches, reflecting, in turn, the cultural, political and social differences of many different jurisdictions”.

DEREK SMITH: Accounting for the risks posed by digital assets

Blockchain technology has revolutionised mutiple products and services in recent years, making it one of our generation’s most fascinating advances. Crypto currencies are enabled by this same blockchain technology. Due to their outstanding capabilities to address specific challenges, crypto currencies have emerged as the most popular blockchain application. As a result, over 300m individuals now own crypto currencies, according to international reports.

DEREK SMITH: Happy workers keep a company on track

Identifying potential employee-related risks is the goal of human resource risk management. Businesses can avoid possible issues by ensuring they hire the right employees. It is vital to mitigate employee-related risk to maximise revenue, reputation, profitability and other aspects of their operations.

DEREK SMITH: Don’t ignore risks posed by your human resources

The compliance landscape, and the needs of employees, are constantly evolving so it is no surprise that employers find cultivating an environment that meets the requirements of both extremely challenging. Though not exhaustive, the intersection of these factors equates to a human resources risk.

DEREK SMITH: Countering the security risk from mobile phones

The mobile phone has become a necessity in today’s workplace. It has become common practice for companies to allow employees access to company e-mails, read, review and respond to critical company files, and even attend video conferences via their personal devices.

DEREK SMITH: Don’t ignore cyber threat to mobiles

As should be evident by now, cyber security must always be a top business priority and, in most cases, it should be the priority. Unfortunately, other cyber security efforts have often overshadowed security initiatives related to mobile devices.

DEREK SMITH: How information and cyber security team

Over the past five years, the increase in data breaches, ransomware, legislation and third-party requirements have compelled companies to recognise the importance of comprehensive information security (infosec) and cyber security strategies.

DEREK SMITH: Take data privacy in all its forms seriously

FINANCIAL institutions are facing a growing level of scrutiny from regulators, and this looks set to continue. And, when a financial institution conducts operations in more than one jurisdiction, complying with ever-evolving data privacy regulations can be challenging.

DEREK SMITH: How to safeguard data from malicious criminals

To investigate computer-related issues and/ or audit incidents featuring cyber attacks, forensic analysts use scientific techniques to retrieve data from digital sources. In accordance with standard incident response steps, digital forensics procedures include preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery and lessons learned.

DEREK SMITH: The culture of information security awareness

Cybercriminals enjoyed an excellent year in 2021. According to positive technologies, a cybersecurity leader to many Fortune 100 companies, the “number of attacks on retail more than doubled from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021” with most attacks targeting services and customers. Even with security innovations, this presents a grim picture for businesses and government agencies.

DEREK SMITH: Building compliance for global workforce

Despite the changes in a company’s day-to-day workflow due to technological progress, the backbone of a successful corporation remains its trained and engaged workforce.

Making ethics more than paper pledge

In today’s business environment, brands must deliver first-class services in an agile and flexible manner that is relevant to all consumer demographics, regardless of the threat of disruptions.

DEREK SMITH: ‘Box checking’ no security guarantee

A new era of technology-based businesses has begun. Technology is used for every aspect of business, from accepting client instructions electronically to processing credit cards, accepting wire transfers and storing employee and customer information. Simply put: Any business requirement can be met with technology.

DEREK SMITH: Compliance amid rapid business change is key

Internal and external stakeholders, particularly in the areas of data protection and environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibility, are placing increasing emphasis upon compliance. This compels chief compliance officers, chief risk officers and other executives to create a more flexible and responsive compliance function, even as they manage rising costs and company-wide expense-cutting pressures.

DEREK SMITH: ‘Digital transformation’ - The second part is key

Every company has been forced to reinvent itself, or re-evaluate how it does business, due to a digital evolution that some might call a revolution. Large companies have invested substantial resources in what is usually referred to as “digital transformation”. However, a problem occurs when they undertake a digital transformation plan without a clearly defined vision of what this should entail.

DEREK SMITH: Compliance pitfalls to avoid

REMOTE-first digital communication is expected to continue growing at an astounding rate year. In addition, due to the pandemic, society is increasingly reliant on connected infrastructure and digital services for the day-to-day functioning of its daily operations, which means that using digital services to interact has now become the norm.

DEREK SMITH: Climate change risks key board discussion

Continued attention is being paid to climate change. In 2020, billionaires such as Jeff Bezos announced the establishment of a $10m fund to combat climate change.

DEREK SMITH: Sanctions regimes that matter for us

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine - and the sanctions that followed - will have a serious impact on the global economy. Despite the highly fluid conditions, and extraordinary uncertainty, surrounding the outlook, the economic impact is already being felt throughout the world with the affect on supply chains causing rippling economic shock waves.

DEREK SMITH: Anti-financial crime regime strengthens Bahamas’ hand

More than $30bn in sanctions have been levied against financial institutions by regulators across the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America since 2008 for violations of anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer (KYC) and other laws and regulation.

Merge compliance and risk to avoid surprises

The financial services industry had been implementing governance models designed to make its institutions more effective well before the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc on the world. Providers and supervised financial institutions have experienced severe changes in their regulatory compliance requirements since then, due to changing risks and increasing costs as a result of health and safety concerns, plus operational difficulties associated with remote work. And supply chain problems are seemingly relentless.

DEREK SMITH: Building the platform for successful compliance

Compliance is about mitigating risk and following rules set by external authorities.

DEREK SMITH: Combating the threat posed by cyber risks

Those who do not know the language of cyber security may think the topic is foreign. Compliance professionals should not forget that conversations about compliance, dripping in apparently infinite acronyms, can also sound foreign to those unfamiliar with the subject.

DEREK SMITH: Make compliance your firm’s strategic partner

It may well be the misalignment between culture and strategy that poses the largest workforce-related risk management challenge.

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