As 2023 concerns fade into the rearview mirror for compliance professionals, 2024 concerns are now looming and everything from ESG to the digital economy is on the radar, meaning that compliance professionals need to be both aware and concerned
When the clock struck midnight and we entered 2024, some thought corporate compliance would be the same problems on a different day. Those people could not have been more wrong. While there will be some carryover, 2024 will be a very unique year for risk & compliance professionals across the globe.
The current compliance concerns with which they struggle hold some of the same concerns that other industries are facing in 2024, but these are not simply a rehashing of 2023 concerns. Indeed, many industries are rebounding from a very interesting year in 2023 in itself, after artificial intelligence in general and generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) more specifically turned the world upside down at a breath-taking speed. As that technological revolution continues to remake the compliance sphere, there are a number of concerns that need to be observed by compliance professionals across the globe over the course of 2024.
Major elections, technological advancement, evolving scams, and other activities will create a landscape that is unique and treacherous for compliance professionals in 2024 and beyond.
To delve deeper into that, the Thomson Reuters Institute and Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence take an annual look at the year ahead to help identify the top anticipated challenges that compliance professionals will be facing. And with the just-published 10 Global compliance concerns for 2024 report, it seems that 2024 will be fast-paced and full of changes and evolution. Amid all of these changes, compliance professionals must strike a delicate balance between expediting service and staying inside critical guidelines designed to protect consumers and financial institutions alike from fraudsters and other nefarious actors.
So-called pig-butchering scams and human trafficking schemes were two large concerns in 2023, and these will continue into 2024 as organizations will be moving to solve the concerns and more that arise. As 2024 moves forward, fraud and scams are only becoming more complex and more intertwined with modern slavery and human trafficking. This complexity means that the solutions must be both intuitive and accurate.
Last year’s concerns still loom
Last year, global developments around beneficial ownership were one of the biggest concerns for compliance professionals on the regulatory front. Despite the fears that had arisen over 2023, the beneficial ownership information database opened on January 1. Now, compliance professionals will be watching to see how this people interact with the database, however there is very little that changes in this arena. The biggest impact will be following up on the entities that are actually filing their information in the beneficial ownership databases in the United States and abroad.
Cryptocurrency and decentralized finance also made headlines in 2023 as the landscape for both has started to point to continued litigation and regulatory action. There were obvious large-scale trials and regulatory enforcement actions that involved cryptocurrency that seemed to show just outright fraud. However, some litigation pointed out how the digital economy will be complicated and require deference.
Environmental, social & governance (ESG) issues will also remain a top concern globally for risk & compliance professionals. In addition to the international standards that are continuing to develop, each individual country or region also are completing their own regulation. Compliance officers will be looking to make sure that their organizations are taking the needed steps to adhere to regulations as investments and initiatives in this area continue to grow.
Another unique thing about 2024 is the number of significant national elections across the globe. Each of these elections have the possibility to impact everything from cross-border sanctions to the regulations of the digital economy. Each country that has an election seems to have a lot at stake, including how that election will impact a country’s dedication to continuing sanctions against aggressor countries and contributing aid to those countries that are fully in the swing of war and upheaval. These changes will be swift and will require rapid action to fully comply with the changing events on the ground.
Overall, these major elections, as well as technological advancement, evolving scams, and other activities will create a landscape that is unique and treacherous for 2024 and beyond. And compliance professionals must carefully navigate this dangerous mine field that has been created for them and their customers.
You can access the “10 Global compliance concerns for 2024” report in digital form here.
