In-House Counsel

Law and compliance overlap and need role clarification according to 2005 EY study

By Rees Morrison

In 2005, Ernst & Young obtained surveys from 95 companies, mostly from the Fortune 1000 and highly regulated industries. One question asked on the survey, as laid out in a report in November 2005 at 9, was ?Does Compliance overlap with other groups?? Of the four groups listed as having a possible overlap -- Legal, Audit, Operational Risk and Business Units, the greatest ?actual overlap? of Compliance was with Legal (67%)

About a third of the respondents said that as between Compliance and Legal, they had ?Clearly differentiated roles and responsibilities? (31%). As mentioned, ?Actual overlap? was chosen by two-thirds of the respondents (67%). Another choice ? and, yes, the percentages total more than 100 ? was ?Perceived overlap? at 17%. Finally, ?More clarification of roles and responsibilities needed? garnered 29%. I can?t figure out the percentages, but the fundamental message is clear: the legal and compliance functions have much in common (See my post of June 11, 2008: compliance with 33 references.).

Full post as published by Law Department Management on May 21, 2009 (boomark / email).