Team size: Two

Focus on: Automation

We have all been in a frustrating situation when dealing with a website, where we cannot determine how to continue to the next screen, or the instructions will simply not work. Such situations are incredibly frustrating, but it is much more concerning for general counsel when the website relates to the governance or regulatory compliance of a large group of companies for which you are responsible.

Compliance is increasingly burdensome, not just in terms of the effort required to collate and maintain up-to-date relevant substance, but the automated format in which it must be filed.

But first, an acknowledgement that online services have brought some vast improvements, allowing people in different locations, and even different countries, to complete transactions without having to physically present themselves.

Many of the automated regulatory services are formulated for the needs of small and medium sized businesses. However, such services do not fit the needs of more sophisticated corporate groups with more complex structures and needs.

The interaction with such automated portals is leading to a higher burden on more complex businesses. Even some familiar administrative functions are now taking up a disproportionate amount of lawyers’ time, to navigate the response to automated services that do not fit, or to interpret how the field of data requested relates to new statutory requirements. Even more concerning is the official suggestion to confirm an inaccurate and incomplete record of content filed and then to engage in more time-consuming and uncertain amendment processes.

In the other direction, communication outputs by regulatory authorities through informal electronic means, particularly SMS or WhatsApp, are anathema to the legal department as the guardian of professional company secretarial record keeping. The communication may come without identification of the relevant company to which it applies and in an abbreviated form that does not fully and clearly communicate its purpose. Where the communication is the only record that a filing has been carried out, it may not reflect all the data filed or other explanatory data provided. Lastly there is the added burden of extracting the communication from an individual’s personal device and turning it into a meaningful and permanent record filed in the companies’ electronic archives.

Automation of regulatory services undoubtedly brings many benefits, but it is essential to recognise that there are many types of businesses, all with different circumstances, and there is a need to develop situational context and flexibility.