What is compliance?
Compliance means a company and its board members, executives and employees adhering to and following laws and regulations, contractual obligations and voluntary commitments. All members of the company are committed to law-abiding and legally compliant conduct at all times in their work for the company. Corporate stakeholders such as the supervisory board, management board and managing director are subject to additional monitoring and selection requirements designed to reduce the risk of non-compliance at all levels. To be able to fulfil these obligations appropriately, companies need to take organisational measures, in particular by introducing a compliance management system (CMS).
The term ‘compliance’ has now also found its way into the German Corporate Governance Code (DCGK) and the Corporate Governance Code for family businesses. This makes an effective compliance system to protect the company and its officers essential. This applies to family- and owner-managed businesses and large corporations alike.
BDO provides tangible support in issues relating to compliance, and especially in the introduction of compliance management systems (compliance consultancy) and auditing of existing compliance management systems in line with IDW PS 980 (auditing of the CMS in line with IDW PS 980).
Why BDO?
Appropriate compliance management cannot completely prevent the substantial risks and potential damage posed by legal offences or crimes, but it can mitigate them effectively. BDO seeks to support you as an expert partner in an atmosphere of trust in the task of permanently addressing existing risks in your enterprise. Compliance design differs individually from enterprise to enterprise, depending on factors such as the size, the sector and the specific activities of your company. This is why you and your business are the focus of our services.
With a view to the requirements of SMEs in particular, we take limited resources and limited options for delegating compliance functions into consideration. BDO is also aware of the increasing relevance of compliance for the SME’s daily business (e.g. the requirement to sign compliance statements for contracts with large companies).
We are happy to assist you in identifying individual risks and selecting compliance measures tailored to your company’s needs, and to collaborate with you on a tailor-made approaches for prevention and/or the improvement of existing compliance elements. Our experts work together in interdisciplinary teams and possess extensive international experience in the field of compliance consultancy. A global network of member companies also allows us to call in local experts. This means that you do not only gain more assurance for your business, but also for yourself, allowing you to significantly reduce your personal liability risk and the risk to your business by demonstrating appropriate compliance measures in case of an emergency. BDO’s expertise also ensures requirements-compliant performance of contracts with a view to auditing your CMS in the scope of the new IDW PS 980.