[INTERVIEW] ABC’s Exclusive Interview with Brian Reffell, Director of Southern Africa Compliance Awards

Africa Business Communities brings you an interview with Brian Refell, Awards Director of Southern Africa Compliance Awards.  Brian throws more light on the purpose and expectations of the event.

1.  Tell us a bit about SACA?

The Southern Africa Compliance Awards recognise & celebrate the successes and achievements of compliance professionals from across the corporate, regulatory and legal spectrum; there is currently no other event of this type in Africa for compliance professionals.  Anyone who works in a compliance and/or regulatory function in Southern Africa is eligible to enter.

2. Why the need to identify and award compliance professionals?

The reality of doing business in Southern Africa remains one that is hindered by its perception of being a challenging and corrupt environment. The latest TI Corruption Perceptions Index tends to support this view with Zimbabwe being ranked 157th, Angola 153rd & Mozambique 119th (out of 177); however that is clearly not the entire story with Botswana being ranked 30th, Namibia 57th and South Africa 72nd, all comfortably above the other  BRIC members such as China, India & Russia with Brazil ranking equal with South Africa.

Globally, as more and more businesses turn to good governance, its importance has become increasingly clear as they begin to reap the wider bottom-line benefits that it brings. The impetus for change has traditionally been high-profile non-compliance incidents or evolving legal requirements.

Should businesses neglect to pay attention to these, the consequences can and do affect corporate and personal reputations, lead to fines and cause loss of revenue. The value of an integrated approach to governance, risk and compliance is indicated in a recent PwC survey which suggests this can enhance reputational value (by 23%), employee retention value (by 10%) and increase revenue (by 8%).

3.  What criteria are used to determine how a company is performing with regards to adhering to its binding rules and expectations?

In terms of the Awards, all submissions are being judged against four criteria:

•To what extent did an initiative identify an issue and offer a solution to a real need for the client? (clients can be either external or internal)

•Did the initiative meet its objectives?

•How good was the execution of the initiative, including consistency across the business?

•Have you been able to demonstrate the business benefits of the initiative?

 4.  What can we expect from this year’s SACA awards?

As the first ever awards ceremony specifically for the compliance industry in Southern Africa it will be a gala  evening of superb dining, entertainment and reward; combined with serious networking and the opportunity to mix and met with regional and International Judges as well as peers from across the corporate and legal community in Southern Africa.

5.  Any advice on how compliance professionals can be effective in their work?

Keep learning and applying what you learn when and where you can; your role is mission critical to the ultimate success of your business . To quote William Lytton, former executive vice president and general counsel of Tyco International  "Every company is just one bad decision or one 'bad employee' away from scandal, one scandal away from a salacious headline, and one headline away from a flood of lawsuits."

africancomplianceawards.com