WO2006102703A1

WO2006102703A1 - Compliance management system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2006102703A1
Application number: PCT/AU2006/000411
Authority: WO
Inventors: James David Field
Original assignee: Premium Advisory Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-03-29
Filing date: 2006-03-28
Publication date: 2006-10-05

Abstract

An interactive computer system for aiding corporate compliance management, the system including a series of interactive on-line computer based modules including: a policy management module for publishing corporate policies; a corporate communications module for providing communications between individuals of a corporation in respect of corporate policies; and an interactive training and testing module for training and testing members of the corporation on the corporate policies.

Description

Title: Compliance Management System and Method Field of Invention

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the ability to take complex legal and corporate governance obligations, to translate them into policy and procedural documentation commonly used by businesses and to effect mass publication of this documentation via the internet to assist businesses to comply with and effectively manage, these legal obligations. Background [0002] In businesses that are rapidly growing across multiple jurisdictions there is often an onerous need to meet complex compliance requirements. For example, the inventor is a qualified lawyer who become CEO of a business that grew rapidly from a green- fields start-up to employ approximately 100 staff located in approximately 7 offices covering multiple legal jurisdictions. Despite having a solid general commercial legal background the inventor quickly discovered that the sheer complexity of the legal and regulatory environment in which the business operated meant that, despite his own technical legal expertise and despite the fact that the board of directors of the business was primarily made up of practicing lawyers, the business did not have the skills nor the resources to effectively identify and manage its legal obligations in many key areas such as workplace safety, workplace relations and privacy. This was partly because people now tend to develop specialist practice areas and partly because of the sheer complexity of the legislation across multiple jurisdictions.

[0003] In order to assist in the proper conduct of a business, various systems have been developed. For example, an initial diagnostic tool known as the "Legal Needs Analysis"

has been developed based upon a "Legal Puzzle" (Fig. 3) that identified at least 15 key areas of law that all businesses, large and small, face at some stage during their life cycle.

[0004] Whilst the "Legal Needs Analysis" was highly effective at identifying gaps in the legal infrastructure of businesses, and assisting businesses to identify their action priorities, it was found not to be totally effective in the solution to the problems of those businesses.

[0005] Other compliance management systems may be possible. For example, a suite of policy and procedural documentation could be developed that is purposely designed to meet the key legal and regulatory obligations faced by many businesses and to ensure that these businesses have a solid foundation upon which to build their corporate governance and compliance programs.

[0006] Such a system may not be directed at providing a businesses with a suite of commonly used legal documentation (e.g. employment contracts and non-disclosure agreements) but rather to develop a suite of policy and procedural documentation in key areas such as corporate governance, work place relations, work place safety and privacy that is designed to minimise the risks of businesses (and directors and officers) failing to comply with their legal obligations in these areas. The documentation can be designed with key variables identified that allowed the policies and procedures to be rapidly tailored to end users based upon their corporate and industry profiles. [0007] Unfortunately, it is the case that the legal industry (especially in its interaction with small to medium sized enterprises) is largely reactive in managing problems and breaches once they have occurred, rather than proactively assisting business owners to identify their legal obligations and to manage them effectively so as to avoid the obvious risks involved in breaching these obligations. [0008] Whilst the "Legal Needs Analysis" diagnostic tool and the suite of precedent

policy and procedural documentation may go someway to providing a solution for business clients, a number of problems will continue. Firstly, notwithstanding the quality of the documentation, as a paper based application it will be time consuming to implement and will therefore still require a substantial capital investment by the business. Most small businesses are reluctant to make this investment and are rather more willing to take their chances that things won't go wrong. Secondly, such manual systems lack visibility and are generally difficult to communicate to workers. The usual scenario, even with the most enthusiastic business managers, is that manuals are left on the shelf and if they are ever communicated, this tends to occur during induction and is often not well managed on an ongoing basis. Thirdly, managing such systems is very difficult with the result that manuals quickly get out of date and often do not reflect contemporary best practice, current legal and regulatory compliance obligations and any organisational changes that may occur from time to time.. Fourthly, many policies are inter-related and therefore cannot effectively stand alone. This is problematic for businesses with limited resources that simply cannot afford to put all the policies and procedures they require into place at one time. Often the task is delegated to an administrator who is often not skilled in a particular area, and the task is either done badly or not at all. [0009] It is conjectured that the vast majority of businesses around the world that fall within the small to medium enterprise classification are placed at a substantial disadvantage because they do not have the resources or skills to effectively manage their legal obligations. Statistics indicate that it is in fact these small to medium sized enterprise that bear the brunt of government fines and penalties.

Summary of the Invention [0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of compliance management system.

[0011] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an interactive computer system for aiding corporate compliance management, the system including a series of interactive on-line computer based modules including: a policy management module for publishing corporate policies; a corporate communications module for providing communications between individuals of a corporation in respect of corporate policies; and an interactive training and testing module for training and testing members of the corporation on the corporate policies. [0012] The system can further include a survey module for providing staff surveys relating to the policies and a record keeping module for keeping policy related information of the corporation. The policy management module can include policies developed by the system franchiser or policies developed by end users. The system can also include an interactive monitoring module for monitoring compliance with the policies. The monitoring module can produce various email alerts to users outlining their obligations under the corporate policy. The system can also include a risk assessment module for assessing risks associated with meeting obligations under the policies. Brief Description of the Drawings [0013] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0014] Fig. 1 illustrates schematically an initial web site layout of the preferred embodiment; [0015] Fig. 2 illustrates schematically the process of publishing information to the web site of the preferred embodiment; [0016] Fig. 3 illustrates schematically one possible diagnostic tool which could be used by business;

[0017] Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a modified form of the preferred embodiment; and [0018] Fig. 5 illustrates schematically the example environment for the operation of the preferred embodiment.

Description of Preferred and Other Embodiments

[0019] The preferred embodiment provides an effective solution for compliance management by using mechanisms for the publication of the content over the Internet in conjunction with content management systems to provide an enhanced web based compliance management system.

[0020] The web based compliance management system provides a mass publication solution which eliminates cost barriers for small to medium enterprises to access key "legally inspired" policy and procedural documentation and to effectively maintain this content on an ongoing basis. This allows the web based solution to effectively demystify the law for small to medium sized enterprises thus lowering barriers to entry and levelling the playing field between small to medium sized enterprises and larger corporations. The system of the preferred embodiment thereby provides a system for the mass publication, communication, maintenance, management, training and testing of legally inspired business policies & procedures via a secure Internet site to assist small to medium sized businesses enterprises in complying with their Legal & Corporate governance obligations.

[0021] The preferred embodiment sits beside and links with the numerous assurance systems (risk management, compliance and incident reporting workflow engines) that have recently emerged in the market place in response to global corporate governance

laws and guidelines. [0022] Turning initially to Fig. 1, the preferred embodiment consists of a number of

components including:

A Policies Section providing policy and procedural documentation, designed to comply with local legal and corporate governance requirements, is published to businesses, from an externally hosted server, over the Internet, to customised, password secured, end user sites. The end user site is presented as an intranet, branded to the end user businesses corporate style.

[0023] The policies section includes a number of areas or levels which provide an online content management system (CMS) through which content can be published and maintained by a variety of authors depending upon their respective copyright ownership

and allocated security access rights. These authors can include:

• A provider of the legal and corporate governance content 2.

• Intermediary content provider, such as a Franchiser 3.

• The business end user 4. [0024] Common examples of such policies include those relating to workplace relations (leave entitlements, terms & conditions of employment, remuneration and benefits), workplace safety (prevention of injuries and injury management) and corporate governance (risk management, compliance, complaints handling, codes of conduct, privacy, conflicts of interest, continuous disclosure, periodic disclosure, media and communications, share trading, environmental and social responsibility).

[0025] The online CMS allows content from a variety of sources to be consolidated to present to end users as a set of company specific policies and standard operating procedures.

[0026] A Communications Section 5 provides on-line tools 6 (such as a suggestion box, staff directory, IT help desk, staff notice board, online library and company web favourites) accessible from a home page 7 to enhance corporate communication amongst end users and to reduce workplace complexity.

[0027] A Training and Testing Section 8,9 allows for training materials to be published and test to be carried out of workers knowledge of internal policy and procedures. This section can include tools 10 to maintain records of end user training and testing.

[0028] A Survey Section 11 includes tools 12 to publish surveys and to automatically collate results in short form report format suitable for publication to managers. [0029] Finally, a Record Keeping Section 13 includes tools 14, such as information registers, to enhance the application of the legal and corporate governance policies. [0030] The site is set up for an end users of a corporate entity who pays a licence fee to access the site and to use the legal and corporate governance content and associated tools. This enables the end user to avoid the considerable capital expenditure that would otherwise be required to achieve a similar outcome if such a system was to be developed in-house.

[0031] The arrangement of the preferred embodiment provides a system for the mass publication of "legally inspired" policy and procedures 2 to businesses that otherwise may not have the resources or general skills to develop and maintain such documentation on an ongoing basis. The concept of a "legally inspired" policy and/or procedural documentation arises were businesses are required to develop operating procedures to meet specific legal requirements. Common examples of such policies include those relating to workplace relations (leave entitlements, terms & conditions of employment), workplace safety (prevention of injuries and injury management) and corporate governance (risk management, compliance, complaints handling, codes of conduct, privacy, continuous disclosure). [0032] The system can include tailoring the policy and procedural documentation to reflect the particular needs and desired corporate culture of the end user business without losing the ability to manage mass publication. The system also has the advantage of maintaining the currency of the policy documentation to ensure compliance on an ongoing basis without losing the ability to manage mass publication.

[0033] As illustrated in Fig. 2, the system allows secure access and editing rights to content 20 created by a number of different authors whilst providing a seamless interface to end users. The system can be configured to effectively communicate content through the hyperlinking of inter-related policy content and a glossary of terms. This allows for the accelerated development of an internal compliance culture thereby better managing risks that arise from the legal and regulatory obligations of a business. [0034] The system of the preferred embodiment can be further extended on an ongoing basis. One form of extension can be as illustrated in Fig. 4 where the system monitors obligations of the parties and sets up a watching system to ensure compliance obligations are met. These include various parts including:

A Capture Obligations module which section to capture various time based obligations of the corporate entity; these obligations can be linked to relevant statutes;

An Assign Obligations section to assign the obligations to various individuals within the organisation; A Monitor Obligations section to perform ongoing monitoring of the obligations producing various email reminders as required, including assigning stakeholders and escalation points for tasks;

A Reporting section to provide standard reporting facilities; and A Control section provides overall analysis of non-compliance risks, including a complete audit trail of all tasks performed inclusive of editing, performance and any commentary relevant to the task

[0035] The preferred embodiment can be implemented through the utilisation of a content management system (CMS) for creating and publishing websites. Whilst many different such systems are available, the Inventor has found that a suitable system is that provided by the Komodo CMS system available from Komodo CMS Pty Ltd of 113

Ferrars Street

Southbank Victoria 3006, Australia [0036] Turning to Fig. 5, the CMS system 20 can be used to construct a website 21 for access over the internet 22 by users 23. The website can include the usual restricted access zones as provided by the Komodo system.

[0037] The forgoing describes preferred features of the present invention.

Modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

1. An interactive computer system for aiding corporate compliance management, the system including a series of interactive on-line computer based modules including: a policy management module for publishing corporate policies; a corporate communications module for providing communications between individuals of a corporation in respect of said corporate policies; an interactive training and testing module for training and testing members of said corporation on said corporate policies.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a survey module for providing staff surveys relating to said policies .

3. A system as claimed in any previous claim further comprising a record keeping module for keeping policy related information of said corporation.

4. A system as claimed in any previous claim wherein said policy management module includes policies developed by system franchiser's or policies developed by end users.

5. A system as claimed in any previous claim further comprising an interactive monitoring module for monitoring compliance with said policies.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said monitoring module includes various email alerts to users outlining their obligations under said corporate policy.

7. A system as claimed in any previous claim further comprising a risk assessment module for assessing risks associated with meeting obligations under said policies.