Season 7, Episode 6: Culture is King — When regulators fall short of their own expectations

"Do as I say, not as I do," is an adage that will echo through the ages. But rarely do we hear it uttered within the hallowed halls of financial regulators. In Australia, this month, the adage is ringing loudly and clearly at the financial conduct regulator. A misconduct investigation involving the most senior staff at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has highlighted the challenges of building and maintaining a strong organisational culture — even for the regulator itself. A Senate hearing in Canberra has unearthed a complaint about allegations that a deputy commissioner behaved in a manner that was "disrespectful and contemptuous" towards other staff. The case has underscored the importance of culture, including at the nation's financial conduct regulator, said Deborah O'Neill, a Labor senator. "I think that this indicates some cultural challenges that are being faced by ASIC. We know that culture matters," she said. In this episode of Compliance Clarified, Nathan Lynch speaks with Niall Coburn, Thomson Reuters' senior regulatory expert for the Asia-Pacific region. Follow the links below for more coverage from Regulatory Intelligence on the importance of regulatory culture. Bad blood between ASIC commissioners highlights challenge of culture: http://go-ri.tr.com/abwqdn ASIC 'narrowly' avoided misleading parliament over Chester investigation, says Liberal senator : http://go-ri.tr.com/TQmSxc Opinion: ASIC in government's crosshairs as chair apologises for outburst, Senate wants change: http://go-ri.tr.com/sEqYZd Regulatory Insight: Top ten risks for the Asia-Pacific region in 2014: http://go-ri.tr.com/OLUaA3 Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.