It is a worldwide used term (for more than 20 years) referring to the commitment in ethics and compliance with the rules that every socially responsible company must adhere. In this sense, “Compliance” seeks to identify the higher risk areas for a company and its workers, and then implement preventive training programs and adopt the necessary measures ensuring the fulfillment of regulations and avoiding, thus, fines or sanctions by the authorities. Compliance activity is preventive, not repressive. In other words, it seeks to identify and develop good practices, in all the areas involved in companies’ interaction: workers, society, shareholders, suppliers, customers, environment, etc.

Although the internal and external guidelines regulating companies have always existed, the emphasis in terms compliance has been different throughout history. The permanent concern of the corporate world in a continuous improvement of ethical standards and good practices has led to the fact that all over the world, including in Chile, companies are required to adopt preventive programs and greater self-regulation every day.

The benefits for companies holding a compliance system are many; e.g.: the reinforcement of workers’ protection, improvements in work environment, better risk management, greater prevention of crimes and fines, improvement in companies’ reputation, among others. These benefits translate into greater efficiency in companies’ management, and in developing tools to reduce economic losses and damage in companies’ reputation resulting from non-compliance with regulations, environmental damage, administrative sanctions, corruption, etc. Compliance undoubtedly adds value to the company in all areas: it changes behavior and thinking positively, improves reputation and especially promotes an ethic competition, which is what the globalized world demands today.

Each company defines, according to its production area and its particular risks, which are the compliance areas in which efforts shall be focused. It is important to specify that although the Compliance division coordinates all these efforts, the implementation and adherence to the program is a duty that each area must assume.

He/she is responsible for identifying and managing compliance activities and coordinating the implementation of the Compliance program in all units of the company and developing prevention plans in subjects representing greater risk. Besides designing part of the company’s policies, he/she shall ensure training at all levels in order to disseminate, promote and exercise this preventive work with everyone.