Compliance Society of Zimbabwe launched
REGULATORY body, Insurance and Pension Commission of Zimbabwe (Ipec), presided over the launch of the Compliance Society of Zimbabwe (CoSoZ) on Wednesday last week.
The body’s main objectives are to educate, train, promote and regulate compliance professionals and create a forum for them to exchange views and information, including encouraging international best practice.
It is believed that body will push for compliance issues with compliance professionals, regulators, industry, business leaders, educators, governments and the media.
There currently exists a gap at the heart of corporate governance and risk management.
Speaking at the launch event in the capital, Ipec commissioner Mr Tendai Karonga re-emphasised the need to ensure professionals and companies are compliant with legislative and regulatory frameworks of the sectors in which they operate.
“A culture of compliance across the entire spectrum of the economy boosts confidence and we know confidence is critical to investment.
“As you probably know, compliance requirements cut across all sectors of the state. In a sense, all laws, rules, regulations, including each organisation’s requirements, require compliance.
“Examples from the financial services sector include the Insurance Act, the Pensions Act, the Banking Act, the Securities Act and the DPC Act and the regulatory requirements these impose,” said Mr Karonga.
“The importance and significance of corporate compliance management is now widely recognised as an essential aspect of risk management. As a result, many jurisdictions are attempting to align their corporate compliance standards to international expectations.
“This of course has brought with it a rapid increase and proliferation of organisations, associations, institutions and other bodies at local, national and even international level attempting to improve compliance management.”
In essence, CoSoZ will be an umbrella body for compliance professionals across all economic sectors in Zimbabwe.
According to Ipec, compliance can be successful enforced through ensuring management acceptance, data availability and measurement techniques.
Changes, especially in technology and the environment, said Mr Karonga, have gradually forced institutions to re-evaluate their corporate compliance approaches.
“Most of the regulatory authorities in Zimbabwe have codified the need for the Boards of Directors of corporate entities to ensure that their institutions implement effective compliance frameworks and processes,” he said.
Compliance is therefore considered a key component in compliance.
Through insisting on recognition the regulators are thus ensuring that the legal infrastructure for compliance functions is well developed and that the role of the compliance function in institutions is entrenched in statutes, regulations and guidelines.
In view of the recognition of the compliance function by regulators, compliance practitioners are under increased pressure to be more accountable and demonstrate how the function adds value.
New body
Members of the new body, CoSoZ, are drawn from many sectors of the economy and hold a variety of roles within large and small organisations.
The members include heads of corporate governance and compliance; compliance managers; compliance officers; regulatory affairs managers; money laundering reporting officers; legal practitioners and analysts.
Industries represented within the membership also include banking and finance; capital markets; insurance; utilities; mining; manufacturing; health and wholesale and retail among others.
As a Trust, CoSoZ — set up in terms of the Notarial Deed of Trust — is governed by a Board of Trustees, while the day-to-day operations are overseen by the Executive Council.
Authority is delegated to various key board committees.
The founding trustee is Dr Walter Zure who has over 19 years of banking experience and is presently employed by CBZ Holdings as a group principal governance and compliance executive.
Furthermore, the board of trustees includes Mr Desmond Jairosi-Chipunza, currently head of compliance for Barclays Bank Zimbabwe; Ms Sithuthukile Sibanda, head of compliance at Stanbic Bank; Mr Collin Mutambira, senior manager — compliance and money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) for FBC Holdings Ltd; and Patience Chinomona, head of compliance for Metbank Ltd.