Ever Since the Outbreak of COVID-19, Corporates have faced a string of challenging instances and decisions. Especially given the Hybrid Models of operations and Workplace dynamics, where Employees were compelled to operate remotely, misconduct and Non-Compliance seemed to be quite common and often tough to monitor and analyze.

It was also discovered that with the growth in Global Regulations & accessibility, there was an increase in Compliance Risk for Businesses as well.

Corporate Governance has always been a topic of importance and has received more Global attention and significance. Even in Sri Lanka, Corporate Governance has become essential with the collapses and failures of certain Financial Institutions that occurred in the past.

The complex new reality caused by Covid-19 has increased the pressures & demands from various stakeholder groups in the lines of virtual operations for the Boards of Companies. This has resulted in lack of readiness to face timely audits, improper payments to Government Officials & other stakeholders, the absence of a repository to capture all required data to be submitted as proven evidence of compliances, Cybercrime & radical uncertainty about the future, etc.

Furthermore, there is a greater tendency for corruption to increase and individuals/ companies to justify their dishonest behavior.

Due to this sudden importance given to compliance, it is vital and advisable for Organizations to seek ways of sustaining Compliance & mitigating fraud. Three principle ways addressing how are as follows.

Drive Awareness on the significance of adhering to compliances along with the penal consequences one is prone to face for non-compliance. In addition, it is essential to stay aware of all the Primary & Secondary legislations & regulations one is required to follow as a Company, specific to the Industry.

Perform Risk Assessments – Take steps to enhance policies & procedures.

Enhance Monitoring Process – This includes identifying & rectifying the red flags on time, using Digital Technologies to manage policies and regulatory compliance, performing root cause analysis & action item tracking, etc. Foreign Minister; Dinesh Gunawardena, leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 20th Virtual Commonwealth Foreign Affairs highlighted that E-Commerce and E-Governance would define the Competitive Edge of countries in the post-COVID-19 world. Therefore, Minister Gunawardena called for assistance to Advance Digitalization of Economies and Services within Commonwealth member states. These factors collectively have highlighted the importance of Compliance and have shifted the Government’s priorities towards building a Digitally enabled culture monitoring Governance.

Although, in some ways, the pandemic is a blessing in disguise, as it has enabled the Governing Bodies to urge the Sri Lankan organizations to embrace Digital Technologies for Corporate Governance to remain vigilant in the current era.

Digitally enabled Compliance Solutions/ Programs are imperative for organizations as it can automate, monitor, & provide deeper insights on their compliance performance & also reduce the risk exposure on their business.

The World’s No.1 E-Governance Solution; ‘Compfie’ has now been introduced to Sri Lanka, through an exclusive partnership to 3W Consulting, by Aparajitha, ensuring sustainability and effective monitoring in the lines of Corporate Governance. However, in today’s uncertainty, Compfie plays a major role among all Companies by providing an opportunity to ramp up their Compliance efforts and minimize the risk of fraud and loss by constantly monitoring the compliance performance.

Digitally enabled E-Governance Solutions like Compfie has become extremely important for meeting the growing policies, legislations, and regulations of Sri Lanka.

Therefore, we 3W Consulting look forward to setting a tone for an Organized Compliance Culture in Sri Lanka through our compliance software offering ‘Compfie’.