The start of a new year offers more than just a clean calendar, it provides a critical opportunity for regulated firms to step back, reassess and strengthen their compliance frameworks. With regulatory expectations continuing to evolve and scrutiny remaining high, firms that take a proactive approach early in the year are far better positioned to manage risk, maintain control and demonstrate effective governance.
Resetting your compliance framework is not about starting from scratch. It is about ensuring your policies, processes, controls, and oversight mechanisms remain fit for purpose in the current regulatory environment.
Why the Start of the Year Matters for Compliance
Regulators expect compliance to be continuous, consistent and well-evidenced. However, many firms allow frameworks to drift over time, particularly following periods of growth, staff changes, or regulatory change.
The beginning of the year is an ideal time to:
- Reflect on issues, incidents and regulatory feedback from the previous year
- Identify gaps or inefficiencies in existing processes
- Reconfirm accountability and governance arrangements
- Align compliance priorities with business strategy
A structured reset helps ensure compliance remains proactive rather than reactive.
Key Areas to Review When Resetting Your Compliance Framework
- Governance and Accountability
Clear governance structures underpin any effective compliance framework. Firms should review:
- Roles and responsibilities across compliance and senior management
- SMF accountability and oversight arrangements
- Reporting lines and escalation procedures
Any changes in personnel or business structure should be reflected in governance documentation and operational processes.
- Risk Assessments and Registers
Firm-wide risk assessments should be refreshed regularly to reflect:
- Emerging regulatory risks
- Changes in products, services, or customer profiles
- Operational or outsourcing developments
Risk registers should be current, clearly documented and actively monitored, not static documents updated once a year.
- Policies, Procedures and Controls
Policies and procedures must reflect both regulatory requirements and how the firm operates in practice. Firms should confirm that:
- Policies are up to date and approved
- Controls are clearly defined and consistently applied
- Staff understand and can access relevant documentation
Outdated or overly complex policies can undermine compliance rather than support it.
- Monitoring and Assurance Activities
A robust compliance monitoring programme is essential to demonstrate ongoing oversight. Firms should assess:
- Whether monitoring plans remain risk-based
- Completion rates and follow-up of findings
- How issues are tracked, escalated and resolved
Effective monitoring is about more than ticking boxes, it provides insight into whether controls are genuinely effective.
- Record Keeping and Audit Trails
Regulators expect firms to evidence their compliance activities. In practice, this means being able to demonstrate:
- When reviews took place
- Who completed them
- What issues were identified
- How actions were resolved
Manual tracking often makes this difficult, particularly as workloads increase.
The Role of Technology in a Strong Compliance Reset
As compliance obligations grow more complex, many firms are recognising that manual processes and spreadsheets are no longer sufficient. A digital compliance platform can support a stronger reset by providing:
- Centralised oversight of tasks, controls and documentation
- Automated reminders and tracking
- Clear ownership of actions and findings
- Real-time visibility for compliance teams and senior management
- Complete audit trails aligned with regulatory expectations
Technology does not replace professional judgement; it enables compliance teams to apply it more effectively.
Setting the Tone for the Year Ahead
A strong start sets expectations across the organisation. By resetting your compliance framework early, you create:
- Clear priorities for the year
- Greater confidence in regulatory readiness
- Reduced operational risk
- Improved efficiency and oversight
Firms that invest time in strengthening their framework at the beginning of the year are better equipped to respond to regulatory change, supervisory engagement and unexpected challenges.
How ComplyPortal Can Support Your Compliance Reset
ComplyPortal is designed to help firms centralise, manage and evidence their compliance activities throughout the year. From risk registers and monitoring plans to action tracking and reporting, the platform supports a structured, transparent approach to compliance oversight.
Start the Year with Confidence
If you are reviewing your compliance framework and considering how to strengthen oversight, book a demo today to see how ComplyPortal can support your firm’s compliance objectives for the year ahead:
