Risk management plans launched

The Compliance Institute of South Africa has launched a suite of compliance risk management plans (CRMPs) to guide companies through important pieces of legislation. They provide key risk considerations and minimum compliance standards, while focusing users on the concepts of various laws and providing simple, to-the-point actions.

CRMPs are currently available for the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS), the Public Finance Management Act (Departments), and the Public Finance Management Act (National Entities). Each CRMP considers all relevant sections, regulations, and exemptions related to that law.

The Companies Act (Private Companies), Companies Act (Public Companies) and Companies Act (State-owned Companies) CRMPs are expected to be available at the beginning of November 2011. The Municipal Financial Management Act (Municipalities) and the Municipal Financial Management Act (Municipal Entities) are expected in February 2012. At least five more relevant CRMPs have been identified for 2012.

Developed for the Institute by The Contemporary Gazette, the CRMPs represent the next step in the Institute’s drive to help companies better manage their compliance obligations. They build on the Generally Accepted Compliance Practice (GACP) framework which, since its launch in 2009, has become the gold standard of best compliance practice.

“The purpose of the CRMPs is to guide users through a particular law with understandable actions for consideration that focus on the key concepts of that law,” says Julie Methven, CEO of the Compliance Institute. “The user then applies his or her own thinking, based on their specific sector and company circumstances, when responding to each risk rating, control and target dates applicable to each action item.”

The CRMPs consider the relationship with all other relevant laws, and all references to definitions, related Acts, sections, and regulations are hyperlinked to the appropriate text of the reference law to allow for source information and quality checking.

Aspects of a law that are of very little relevance to businesses are not considered. The plans are divided into 10 bite-sized questions per category to avoid information fatigue and ensure the user remains focused on the category at hand. Because they were created with simplicity in mind, the CRMPs can be used by anyone with general business experience. They can be easily adapted to the needs of different sizes of companies with different approaches to compliance.

(For more information contact the Compliance Institute via email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , at their offices on 011 642 7974, or via their website at http://www.compliancesa.com.)