Compliance Resources to Help you Stay Current

Draft Document: WhatsApp and Skype May Come Under New EU Security Rules

Online communication giants WhatsApp and Skype may have to comply with stricter EU regulations by 2018. Telecom operators have long since complied with these regulations, and have often brought up the debate of the far more lightly regulated Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook services.

With similar services up on offer, companies that offer calls and messages through the internet, known as Over-The-Top (OTT), such as Facebook’s Whatsapp and Microsoft's Skype will also be expected to comply with EU regulations on handling customer data under its new security laws due soon.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are regulations requiring the minimum safety performance for motor vehicles or items of motor vehicle equipment. FMVSS 209 was the first standard to become effective on March 1, 1967. A number of FMVSS became effective for vehicles manufactured on and after January 1, 1968.

The FVMSS are constantly updated. This article provides the background to these standards, brief overview of the most important standards and their applicability.

The Chemical Facility Anti Terrorism Standards (CFATS) – also knows as the 6 CFR Part 27 – is a regulation published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2007. It requires high risk chemical facilities to enhance security and establish new procedures to protect the security information of these facilities.

This article explains the regulatory requirements, various phases and impact of CFATS.

Solvency II is a new, stronger EU-wide requirement on capital adequacy and risk management for insurers with the aim of increasing protection for policyholders. The strengthened regime should reduce the possibility of consumer loss or market disruption in insurance.

Solvency I was a minimum harmonization directive introduced in the early 1970s. It allowed for differences to emerge in the way that insurance regulation was applied across Europe leading to different regimes. It was also primarily focused on the prudential standards for insurers and did not include requirements for risk management and governance within firms.

What risk management tool do you use in your company? Is it at par with ISO 14971 or with its equivalent ICH Q9? Are you aware of the relevance of the two mentioned regulations? If not, it is high time to pull your socks up and gather information about ISO 14971 and ICH Q9 and apply to your company to nip the unforeseen hazards in bud!

Published on 15 November 2009, ISO 31000:2009 stands for Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines. Goal of the ISO 31000 standard is to provide a framework to guide organizations in their risk management process. It seeks to integrate this process into the organization’s overall governance, strategy and planning, management, reporting processes, policies, values and culture.

A strong risk management process along with project mangement can eliminate any surprises in the course of the project. It helps in a systematic and planned approach to risk mitigation than a knee-jerk reaction. Risk management involves a collective effort. It requires resources take time out of their actual project time. Everyone ahould be able to identify the potential risks associated with the project. The group further will consolidate on these risks identified and form subgroups to tackle these risks. Read more on the seven steps to risk management.

Risk management is the process of defining risk and developing mitigation strategies. Traditionally risk mangement has been focussing on risk arising out of physical and legal causes. Business have always practised risk management either for mally or informally. Risk Management starts with the source of problems or the problem itself. Once the problem is identified, assessment has to be thorough wit regards to the severity of loss caused by the problem. All risk management activities should be recorded and approved by appropriate level of management. Risk management is always an ongoing process and all plans must be reviewed and updated regularly.

Risk Management involves identification, assessment and prioritization of risks. It Identifying risk and proper mitigation becomes critical for successful business. The strategies to manage risk include transferring risk onto another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of risk, and accepting some or all consequences of a particular risk.

Factors from which a business risk can arise are:

• Insufficient Planning – What is the impact of assumptions not backed by research?
• Bad Relationships – What is the impact of not nurturing good relationship with stakeholders?
• No Hedging – What is the impact of improper hedging of risk?
• Lack of Discipline – What is the impact of mismanaging expenditure, debts, etc?

For more detailed insights read on