Compliance oversight lacking at insurance companies

Considering the number of regulations insurance companies must obey and how often those regulations are revised, many firms have compliance procedures that are disorganized and insufficient, according to a recent survey by Compliance Assurance Corp. (CAC), a provider of regulatory compliance software.

The firm polled nearly 50 compliance executives working in the U.S. insurance business during its webinar series, “Managing the Hydra of Regulatory Change.” Overall, the survey indicates the “majority of current organizational processes for managing regulatory change are falling short,” concluded CAC.

Participants were asked to place their company’s compliance practices in one of five levels: ad hoc, fragmented, managed, integrated and intelligent. Each level indicates where the firm sits on the spectrum of compliance management and supervision.

A mere 10 percent of respondents identified their process as intelligent, the top level. In this classification, a business-process automation system facilitates robust oversight and management of regulatory changes, according to CAC.

About one-third (35 percent) graded their regulatory management system as managed, the mid-range on the scale. Though firms in this category exhibit some usage of technology to manage the process and provide accountability, inconsistencies are evident. Although there is some visibility into regulatory change across the business, reporting tends to not go beyond the department level.