Skip to main content

Building world-class ethics and compliance programmes

Five ingredients to meet global expectations

The ethics and compliance function has evolved over the past decade and it is now front and centre with greatly expanded responsibilities. When it comes to creating ethics and compliance programmes, organisations today cannot afford to settle for “good enough” and should continuously strive for “great.”

Today’s CCO is a leader who can build alliances, enhance trust both inside and outside the organisation, and work to strengthen brand and reputational value.

-Henry Ristuccia, Leader of Strategic and Regulatory Risk, Deloitte Global Risk Advisory

What separates a “good” ethics and compliance programme from a “great” one? How does an organisation’s investment in compliance and reputation risk mitigation systems and processes measure up against leading practices? At a time when risks are increasing, what are the building blocks upon which to build a world-class ethics and compliance programme that not only protects an organisation from internal and external threats, but also enhances its brand and strengthens its relationship with all stakeholders?


While there are a number of factors—or ingredients—that separate the “good” from the “great,” in our experience, there are five that are key differentiators in the highest performing compliance programmes:

  • Tone at the top
  • Corporate culture
  • Risk assessments
  • The chief compliance officer
  • Testing and monitoring

Did you find this useful?

Thanks for your feedback

If you would like to help improve Deloitte.com further, please complete a 3-minute survey