Truth & Consequences of Ignoring Compliance

“Compliance is for ALL companies-regardless of size. Whether outside regulations or internal business practices, you have to comply to their desired objectives,” AIIM E-Doc Magazine.

It is no longer acceptable to claim ignorance to compliance regulations. C-level professionals are being held personally accountable for their company’s actions and unforgiving punishment is being dispensed to those that don’t adhere. Many companies have experienced severe penalties that have far exceeded the costs it would have taken to conform. A few examples of these punishments include:

• 5 firms fined $8.25M for failing to preserve email communications.
• Banc of America fined $10M for document production failures.
• Schering Plough fined $500M for noncompliance in 2002.
• Morgan Stanley paid $1.45 billion in fines for non-compliance.
• Enron executives are currently serving jail time for deliberately tampering with financial records to allude shareholders.