How can a company ensure that it complies with all relevant compliance requirements?

Companies should develop a compliance strategy that includes regular audits, training and the use of appropriate technologies. An effective compliance management system (CMS) helps to monitor regulations, identify risks at an early stage and adapt processes accordingly. Clear responsibilities and close cooperation between specialist departments and the legal department are also essential.

Which technologies support compliance with regulatory requirements?

Modern technologies such as data governance tools, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation solutions help to efficiently meet compliance requirements. In addition, specialised software solutions for customer data management should be used. They enable structured data management, improve data quality and minimise risks. Monitoring software in particular can detect deviations and issue warnings in good time so that companies can react quickly.

How often should compliance measures be reviewed and updated?

Compliance measures should be reviewed regularly and adapted to new legal requirements or company developments. A comprehensive evaluation is recommended at least once a year. However, processes should be revised immediately in the event of regulatory changes or internal adjustments. Continuous monitoring helps to identify optimisation requirements at an early stage.

What are the consequences of violating compliance requirements?

Violations of compliance requirements can result in heavy fines, damage to reputation and, in serious cases, criminal consequences for those responsible. Companies also risk losing the trust of customers and business partners. Consistent implementation of compliance measures minimises these risks and strengthens long-term competitiveness.

What role does corporate governance play in compliance?

Company management bears central responsibility for compliance with compliance guidelines. It must define clear values and guidelines, promote a culture of compliance and ensure that employees receive appropriate training. Without commitment from senior management, compliance often remains a purely formal requirement with no lasting effect.

How can employees be made aware of compliance issues?

Employee training, clear guidelines and an open communication culture are crucial. Practical examples and interactive training help to raise awareness of compliance requirements. Simple, understandable processes and a point of contact for questions or uncertainties also promote acceptance in everyday working life.

How can a company integrate compliance into its processes in a sustainable manner?

Compliance should not be seen as an isolated obligation, but rather as an integral part of all business processes. This can be achieved through close integration with the IT strategy, automated control mechanisms and continuous performance measurement. Companies benefit in the long term from clear structures, reduced risks and higher data quality.

Mastering compliance purposefully

Anyone who works with personal data must comply with numerous laws and regulations.

Compliance management supports you in meeting the challenge of complying with internal, company-specific and voluntary guidelines, as well as the legal provisions governing data use in the relevant fields of activity. High-quality customer data is crucial to ensuring that this works.

What is the definition of compliance?

The term compliance refers to a company's adherence to legal regulations, internal guidelines and ethical standards. Some of these are imposed from outside, for example by legislators. Others are imposed by companies themselves in the form of voluntary commitments.

Compliance is of central importance in the modern business world, especially when it comes to the management and use of customer and prospect data. In times of strict data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation, companies are faced with the challenge of keeping their data not only compliant but also of high quality. But why is data quality so important for compliance, what are the risks of poor data hygiene, and what are the benefits of strategic data quality compliance?

Overview

Data protection with significance for compliance

In the context of data protection for customer and prospect data, compliance includes, for example, the GDPR in the EU or the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) in the US. Companies are obliged to process personal data correctly, securely and for a specific purpose. In addition, there are other regulations that companies must comply with depending on their industry.

Further legal basis for compliance requirements:

BaFin guidelines:
The BaFin guidelines are regulatory requirements for banks and financial service providers in Germany, for example with regard to risk provisioning.
Money Laundering Act:
The Anti-Money Laundering Act regulates various due diligence obligations that so-called obligated parties must observe and implement internally and in relation to customers. The primary objective of these due diligence obligations is to combat money laundering and prevent terrorist financing.
Sanctions list checks:
Companies are legally obliged to check sanctions lists to ensure that they do not enter into business relationships with sanctioned persons, organisations or countries.
DORA:
With the Digital Operational Resilience Act, the EU is requiring companies to strengthen their digital resilience.
Supply Chain Act:
The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act regulates corporate responsibility for the observance of human rights in global supply chains. This includes, for example, protection against child labour, the right to fair wages and protection of the environment.

"Consolidated and high-quality customer data is an important element in adhering to compliance rules."

Sebastian Krebs, Head of Customer Success at Uniserv

"Consolidated and high-quality customer data is an important element in adhering to compliance rules."

Sebastian Krebs, Head of Customer Success at Uniserv

Why is compliance important?

Laws and regulations are binding legal foundations that must be observed. Compliance is critical to the success of companies. Prevention measures against money laundering, for example, are mandatory. Violating compliance regulations can have serious consequences:

High penalties: GDPR violations, for example, can result in substantial fines imposed by supervisory authorities. In the banking sector, the authority responsible for preventing money laundering is BaFin (the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority).

Reputational damage: Customer trust can be permanently damaged by data protection violations. This can even threaten the existence of a company if more and more customers leave.

Legal consequences: Companies risk lawsuits from consumer protection organisations and affected parties. In the area of the GDPR in particular, the legislator is strengthening the rights of affected parties to a considerable extent.

How does compliance come about?

Compliance essentially results from a combination of legal requirements, industry-specific standards and internal company guidelines for responsible corporate governance. Successful implementation means ensuring compliance with the requirements and protecting yourself against violations. This requires:

Defined processes

Clear guidelines

Technical solutions

Employee training

Since customer and prospect data is often involved in the context of compliance, it is critical to have this data available in an appropriate form – i.e. up to date, complete, clear, correct and consolidated.

What is the significance of high-quality data?

Compliance requires customer data of adequate quality. For example, how can a customer be correctly identified if you do not know whether they are listed twice or multiple times in the system, whether their address is correct, or whether they have multiple digital identities? Even the best processes and guidelines will not work in such cases. This leads to errors that prevent compliance with money laundering laws or sanctions lists, for example. High-quality data is therefore the basis for compliance-compliant work.

Inadequate risk prevention and poor data management often cause compliance violations. This requires careful precision work in the process, because errors or even attempted fraud are often hidden in the details. Risky data can be hidden in individual address details, in names or in other fields, such as the purpose of a bank transfer. Keeping data accurate, up to date and of high quality is a basic requirement for careful data compliance. Complying with all requirements in real time is complex. A particular challenge and frequent source of errors is the consolidation of external data sets into an existing system, for example in the course of a merger – here, the migration process requires a closer look at compliance with the requirements.

However, poor data quality can also lead to false alarms. In the case of a ‘false positive’, an incorrect file triggers a transaction stop, for example. This leads to delays and additional work for checking and approval. Customers react with annoyance or uncertainty.

How Uniserv helps you master compliance in key scenarios:

Why should companies choose Uniserv to manage their compliance?

Quite simply because we at Uniserv are the customer data experts. We have already enabled many of our customers to ensure industry-specific compliance, thereby avoiding heavy fines and damage to their image. Because data is our business. What's more, we love data. It has been in our DNA since the company was founded over 50 years ago. And we know from many projects exactly what it means when data and information are not available in the appropriate quality and in compliance with regulations.

That's why we have the expertise when it comes to data in the compliance process. Validating data, identifying the right contact persons, comparing sanction lists and using this valid data to design compliance processes that are efficient and legally compliant – that is our core competence. What you can expect from us: