Integrated Trade Compliance Strategies: Seven Best Practices of Leading Traders

Best Practice #2

Our survey findings confirmed that the compliance role is still evolving in response to demands of an increasingly complex trade environment.

At the most sophisticated level, a senior manager of a multi-national fortune 500 level firm we interviewed related her experience as part of a global compliance team spread throughout the world, that reports directly to the global corporate controller, who in turn is responsible to the corporate board of directors.

Bill Conroy of Tyler Search Consultants notes how a global trade compliance director once explained his role and how his team is perceived internally: “We are perceived quite well, and we have strong management support. Company personnel tend to look at the compliance program like taking a maintenance drug. They may not like the taste, they may not like the side effects, and occasionally they may even refuse to take it, but in the end, they know they will have big problems without it. Many express relief that they have a compliance team to deal with the government visits.”

While that traditional view of the compliance role being one of regulatory “cop on the beat” or supply chain security chief is still quite prevalent, there is an increasing trend amongst globally active traders towards recognizing that compliance can, and should be, a more expansive, value-added proposition. This attitude drives the change from merely regarding trade compliance as a burdensome obligation into a proactive and commercially important function. Linking compliance with business success in this way results in the two becoming a single core responsibility, and thus, a more commercially appreciated function within the organization.

Follow this link to download the new GHY White Paper “Seven Best Practices of Leading Traders”.

Follow this link to download the original GHY White Paper “A Case for An Integrated Trade Compliance Strategy”.

Also in this series:

• 7 Best Practices of Leading Traders
• Corporate Leadership is Essential to Effective Trade Compliance
• Successful Trade Compliance Depends on Benchmarking
• Automating Your Trade Compliance Success
• Effective Communications Protocols are Vital
• Integrate Trade Compliance Into Plans For Growth & Expansion Into New Markets
• Putting Best Trade Compliance Practices Into Action
• Best Practice Compliance: Benchmarking Questions