Regulatory Compliance

Are you struggling to keep up with the constantly changing rules and regulations covering all aspects of your business?

Who is subject to changing regulations?

No matter how large or small your organisation, regardless of what sector you are in, it is sure to be subject to a complex web of constantly evolving regulations— with failure to comply likely to result in enforcement action, fines and potential damage to your reputation and customer relationships. It is hardly surprising that chief executives everywhere are more focused on managing risk than ever before.

However, regulatory compliance should be about much more than simple prevention. It is also a valuable opportunity to strengthen your organisation strategically and culturally through proactive measures such as reviewing your governance, adopting best practice, establishing internal controls and, ultimately, improving business outcomes.

How can we help?

Our knowledge of the regulatory landscape and flexible, bespoke approach means Bridgehouse Company Secretaries is well-placed to help clients of all types and sizes.

Many organisations already rely on Bridgehouse Company Secretaries regulatory compliance services to take care of legislation such as the Health & Safety at Work Act, Data Protection Act, Modern Slavery Act and Bribery Act, as well as their ensuring compliance with their respective governing documents. We can also help protect your brand with our Trademark Registration Services.

Bridgehouse can alleviate the compliance burden by ensuring that the necessary policies and procedures are in place, raising awareness of those policies – for example through internal training – monitoring compliance and giving practical, pragmatic advice when necessary.

Call us today on 0845 055 8260 or email contactus@bhcsecretaries.co.uk.

There are many ways Bridgehouse can help you achieve your goal of being a compliant organisation including:

Complying with your Governing Documents+

Organisations can be governed by several different types of documents. Your company may be governed by articles, bylaws, rules, chartered documents or a combination of these.

We can help by checking that your governing documents are up-to-date, support a good governance framework and are streamlined and easy to follow.

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Anti-bribery compliance+

The Bribery Act 2010 significantly extended the scope and seriousness of UK bribery offences. It is illegal to offer, promise, give, request, agree, receive or accept bribes. The legislation was put in place to effect widespread culture change so that businesses no longer regard the payment of bribes in certain industries or countries as an unwelcome but necessary ‘fact of life’ and are prepared to miss out on a business opportunity rather than pay a bribe.

The Act requires organisations to have ‘adequate procedures’ in place. What is adequate will depend on the bribery risks you face and the nature, size and complexity of your business.

Having a defined anti-bribery policy and procedures can help companies to entrench this new approach into corporate culture and demonstrate that they have implemented measures to prevent bribery from taking place.

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Trademark registration services+

Your organisation’s brand and the ideals and culture it represents has a quantifiable balance sheet value and is worth protecting. Consumers instinctively gravitate to brands they know and trust and are often prepared to pay a premium.

Consider this: Forbes’ 2017 study of the leading brands worldwide reveals that technology giant Apple is the most valuable brand globally, worth a staggering $170 billion, with Google coming in second, worth an impressive $101.8bn! While most companies can only dream of having a market value on this scale, what this shows is that your brand does have a tangible value and may well be worth protecting by registering it as a trademark.

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Data Protection Services+

Protecting personal information is something that all companies are required to do by law. This may be your clients’ data, customer data, and includes your employees’ data.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 are now in force and you may be worrying about whether your organisation complies.

The GDPR is EU legislation and applies to all member states of the EU. Even post-Brexit, the Data Protection Act 2018 ensures that GDPR will remain in force within the UK and will be vital for any company wanting to do business in the EU. A two-tier sanctions regime is enforced whereby breaches of the law could lead to fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is the greater.

All businesses and not-for-profit organisations that process personal data concerning employees, customers or prospects who are in the EU and/or are EU citizens fall within its scope, wherever in the world the company is based, even if the data is processed outside the EU. In other words, European data protection law now applies worldwide.

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