1
Obligation source
Every regulation, licence, or policy must map to an accountable owner.
Compliance risk explained
Understand regulatory exposure across your organisation.
Learn what compliance risk means for business, how to manage obligations, and how to prevent breaches, penalties, and trust issues.
What is compliance risk?
Compliance risk is the chance that legal, regulatory, contractual, or ethical obligations are breached—leading to penalties, remediation costs, and reputational harm.
3
Lines
Boards, management, and assurance partners each oversee compliance risk differently.
24/7
Monitoring
Regulatory change and issues surface constantly, not just during audits.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why managing compliance risk protects your organisation
Prevents penalties. Understanding obligations helps you avoid fines, remediation programs, and licence restrictions.
Protects trust. Customers, regulators, and partners expect visible compliance oversight across operations.
Supports growth. Strong compliance risk management accelerates market entry, funding, and partnerships.
OVERSIGHT
How to structure compliance governance
- Document obligations Maintain a central register with citations, thresholds, and evidence expectations.
- Assign owners Name accountable executives plus control owners, and link them to reviews and attestations.
- Escalate fast Define breach notification paths, board reporting requirements, and remediation workflows.
CADENCE
How to monitor compliance risk
- Track regulatory change Subscribe to regulator feeds and update controls whenever new rules land.
- Log incidents Capture every issue, near miss, or regulator query with status and remediation tasks.
- Test controls Run preventive and detective control testing, then store evidence centrally.
- Report trends Summaries for leadership should highlight key obligations, breaches, and upcoming filings.
Compliance risk quick wins
Audit the register
Remove outdated clauses and confirm each line has an owner and frequency.
Standardise issue templates
Use consistent forms for breaches so data is easy to analyse.
Link to risk appetite
Make sure compliance risks ladder up to enterprise risk appetite statements.
COMPLIANCE RISK GLOSSARY SNAPSHOT
Compliance risk glossary snapshot
Compliance obligations. Legal, regulatory, contractual, or policy requirements you must meet.
Compliance breach. An event where obligations were not met, triggering remediation or penalties.
Compliance oversight. The committees, policies, and reporting structures that monitor obligations.
FAQS
Compliance risk FAQs
How do we identify compliance risk sources?
Review regulations, licences, contracts, and internal policies. Map each to owners, controls, and monitoring requirements.
Who owns compliance risk?
Business leaders own day-to-day adherence, risk/compliance teams coordinate, and boards oversee outcomes.
How do we monitor regulatory requirements?
Use alerts, industry associations, and specialist partners to track changes—then update registers and controls quickly.
What happens after a breach?
Log the issue, notify stakeholders, remediate, and update controls to prevent repeat events.
Drova RunSure centralises obligations, controls, and remediation workflows.
Ready to keep compliance risk visible?
GRC 101 HUB
Explore related topics
Risk management basics
Place compliance risk within the enterprise risk picture.
Risk controls toolkit
Design preventive and detective controls.
Risk appetite overview
Define acceptable compliance exposure.
Risk register template
Document compliance risks, controls, and owners.
Residual risk explainer
Measure compliance risk left after treatments.
Operational risk basics
Connect compliance issues to everyday processes.
