Amid a period of strong economic growth, most compliance professionals say their resources and access to their organization’s governing board are sufficient. So, why has their concern over their own and their CEO’s liability increased over the past year?

DLA Piper’s 2018 Compliance & Risk Report points to two potential and complementary explanations. First, the corporate world has been on a hot streak of late, closing a tremendous number of transactions over the past year. The pace and complexity of mergers and acquisitions may be a cause of CCOs’ restlessness, not to mention the anxiety that comes with keeping the newly combined venture on track vis-à-vis its legal, regulatory and contractual obligations. Second, as the businesses they serve increasingly leverage technology solutions to drive productivity and efficiency, compliance departments largely have not followed suit – perhaps because the available technology solutions are not yet up to the task or cost-effective, or because compliance professionals have not yet figured out how to use technology to detect, prevent and mitigate compliance failures. And for those early adopters who have devised and implemented technological solutions to help, say, monitor transactions or detect operational snafus, there’s the question of how to make sense of, let alone protect from misuse or disclosure, the troves of data that only exist because of the technological solutions.

These and other insights are drawn from our third annual Compliance & Risk Report. Beyond exploring traditional compliance program features, this year we focus on how technology is used or not used to enhance the efficacy of compliance programs. We are proud to present the results, paired with practical guidance and pragmatic suggestions for compliance professionals.

To download the report, click here.