Empowering Compliance - A big role for HR

Major Pratima Pinto Thomas, Head - HR, Fino Payments Bank, explores how the HR function supports and empowers compliance:

- Ravi

Ravi Lalwani: What are the most common queries or actions that CEO/CXOs come to HR with regards to regulatory compliance?

Major Pratima Pinto: When it comes to regulatory compliance, CEOs and CXOs often engage with HR on several key areas. Some of the most common queries on an operational basis include: understanding and keeping abreast with legal and compliance requirements and updates, ensuring adherence to them, risk management and mitigation, lines of defence, policy development and enforcement, ensuring best practices when it comes to doing beyond the regulated mandatory.

However, the most important area of expectation is to create a culture of compliance percolating out of policies and practices from the topmost level of strategy to the last mile execution, which the HR facilitates with the subject matter experts being the legal, compliance and risk functions of the bank.

What policies or practices have you put in place to facilitate compliance?

Adherence to compliance norms in the banking industry is facilitated through a structured framework that ensures regulatory alignment and operational integrity. This begins with well-documented policies and practices that define the bank's approach to compliance, incorporating legal, regulatory, and internal control requirements. To strengthen awareness, regular training sessions are conducted for employees, ensuring they understand compliance obligations and their respective responsibilities. Audit and monitoring play a crucial role, with both internal and external audits, along with continuous operational reviews, identifying and addressing potential compliance issues early.