Legal and regulatory filing requirements and constantly changing marketing and privacy laws are nothing new to organizations, whether they are for-profit or not-for-profit. However, due to the corporate governance and geopolitical issues in the last few years, organizations are faced with a dizzying array of new compliance issues that stem from such wide-sweeping laws like The Patriot Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Enterprise performance management, business intelligence, data warehousing and analytic applications have always been a crucial compliance tool, and now more than ever, are being looked to for cost-effective ways to meet such a dynamic legal and regulatory climate.
TRG's business intelligence consultants and financial functional experts have working experience crafting BI policies and applications that meet even today's most recent legislation.
Universal compliance issues include:
- The Patriot Act - Potentially wide ranging implications for the use and sharing of private data with government agencies and officials. Examples include telemarketing and Web site access logs.
- SOX - The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is US congressional legislation aimed at driving improved corporate accountability. The law's impact on a company's system of internal control will not only satisfy compliance needs but create new vehicles to create competitive advantage.
- OFAC - Office of Foreign Assets Control governs interaction between United States companies & citizens with nations and individuals deemed to be a threat to national security.
Industry specific challenges include:
- GLB - Graham-Leach-Bliley Act outlines the required disclosure of Privacy practices by financial services firms of all types, including accountants, banks, insurance firms and brokerages
- FCRA - Fair Credit Reporting Act defines consumer reporting agencies, consumer reporting agencies and their permissible purposes. It also establishes a federal regime for how certain types of financial information may be shared by affiliated financial service providers.
- HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is similar to GLB, but it applies to information sharing by companies in the healthcare business.
- CACA - Crimes Against Charitable Americans is a section of the Patriot Act that regulates telemarketing for non-profits.
- NCLB - No Child Left Behind Act contains provisions regarding the education industries collection and use of student information.
Channel specific concerns include:
- Fax - Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted in 1991 and prohibits the use of fax machines for unsolicited ads.
- Phone/Wireless - Telemarketing Sales Rule is recent FTC legislation intended as a telemarketing bill of rights for consumers. It includes specifications for permissible call times, Caller ID requirements, and the creation of a national do-not-call registry.
- E-mail - The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 is a bill regulating interstate commerce by imposing limitations and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail via the Internet.
- Television/Billboard/Radio - Alcohol, drug & tobacco ads are heavily regulated by various FDA regulations