Global Compliance Challenges for 2024

Commitment to integrity gives organisations a competitive advantage, preventing failures, increasing performance, and attracting talent. Aside from the need to do the right thing, there are increasing legislative pressures on organisations to ensure that their compliance program is in good shape.

The US Department of Justice has long set standards for compliance programs against which businesses will be judged in the event of violations. However, pressure on companies will increase over the coming years as a result of developments in the EU and elsewhere.

The EU Whistleblowing Directive requires certain organizations to implement whistleblower protection programs and sets out the minimum standards for these programs. The Directive includes criminal and administrative sanctions which can be applied to individuals as well as to Companies.

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is a proposed EU directive intended to ensure that businesses address adverse impacts of their actions. All affected companies will need to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for negative human rights and environmental impacts of their actions, including in their value chains inside and outside Europe.

The proposed Directive will have a synergetic relationship with the reporting requirements in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) which was formally adopted by the European Council on 28 November 2022. Starting from 2024, almost 50,000 companies are subject to mandatory sustainability reporting, including non-EU companies which have subsidiaries operating within the EU or are listed on EU regulated markets.

We evaluate our clients’ existing compliance programs to the highest international standards and adapt them to evolving business risks. We also design and implement brand new compliance programs tailored to your needs, helping you incorporate the culture of compliance to support sustainable and future-proof growth.

Author Roger Williams