A compliance manager's job is supposed to be boring if it is done well. This is because the alternative - poor compliance - means a company can be sued by customers for negligence or fined by regulators, while the executives may be jailed for criminal offences. In the worst-case scenario, corporate failure results in massive layoffs, leaving creditors and shareholders out of pocket.
'They are the first and only line of defence in ensuring that a company abides by rules and regulations in the markets in which it does business,' says Mark Moorby, consultant for banking and financial services in Hong Kong for recruitment firm Ambition.
Compliance managers are required to be intimately familiar with rules and regulations drafted in everything from a company's labour policies and use of financial instruments to its carbon footprint, or whether dolphins and baby seals are harmed over the course of its business.
They advise senior executives on a range of issues including legal and compliance hurdles in new markets, and make sure business transactions comply with the laws of the country in which the firm is based and also where the investment will go.
Sometimes compliance managers are called upon to interface with regulators to provide updates on business transactions and conduct internal corporate investigations if fraud is suspected. They also provide training and development for other employees.
Many career compliance professionals hail from legal or audit backgrounds, while some have regulatory or law enforcement experience. Junior compliance professionals focus on roles that check whether rules are being followed to the letter. As they gain experience, they will move into a more advisory role for senior management.