I have very fond memories of this very interesting discussion with the FIGroup teams on compliance on 12 June 2023. Inspired by the Anglo-Saxon world, this new, more responsible, and better shared way of managing the risks of all kinds that every company faces (corruption, climate, social and human rights) is an almost new idea in Europe.
It is only in the last decade that companies have adopted internal rules, internal control systems and teams dedicated to implementing and applying these rules. This is a major effort, but it is worthwhile, because it provides security for the company and its community of employees and managers. Compliance has also given rise to a new form of governance that is less vertical and, under the impetus of senior management (tone at the top), much more participative. The 'hard' law of compliance and CSR is still in gestation under the effect of an unprecedented legislative effervescence in the European Union, but it should be followed closely. Indeed, it is imperative that it reconciles the need for European recovery and reindustrialization with this new paradigm of the considerable extension of corporate responsibility wherever companies operate in the world.
