– Vidya Phalke, chief technology officer at MetricStream (www.metricstream.com), says:
What steps can you take to limit the possibility for potential legal liabilities to take place?
Implement Policy programs that support accountability and communication of your policies and procedures. Programs must have a role-based publication, communication, awareness and acceptance programs and training, supported monitoring and documenting compliance through periodic audits, surveys and self-assessments. Moreover, there needs to be tight integration between the policies and procedures and the compliance, risk, control framework. This includes dynamic links and references between the two – for a clear mapping of policies to controls, control objectives, risks, areas of compliance, etc.
What potential legal liabilities might enterprises face, and how can they prevent them from happening in the first place?
Companies have to comply effectively with country specific laws and regulations for interactions and business practices where risks and losses arising from unintentional or negligent failure to meet an obligation can be prevented and mitigated through automated controls ensuring adherence to best practices. They have to ensure compliance with internal procedures, external regulations and industry mandates while streamlining complex interactions and ensuring that the staff are aware of procedural and regulatory requirements. At all interaction and exposure points, required and mandatory steps are enforced and recorded in an auditable system ensuring compliance in an end-to-end fashion.
