Legal status of compliance officers: Open issues

Abstract

Legislators only sporadically regulate the compliance function within companies, primarily in the financial sector. The primary task of compliance officers (CO) is to ensure that the overall business operations comply with legal norms. When discussing the potential liability of compliance officers, it is necessary to analyze their legal position within the corporation. The liability of compliance officers should primarily be considered as the employee's responsibility towards the employer. From the perspective of corporate law, the theoretical background should focus on whether compliance officers have a distinct legal status within the company. The authors aim to contribute to the discussion on potential changes in corporate governance, where corporate officers such as compliance officers gain more influence, and to raise awareness of the precarious position of compliance officers under current solutions of both the Anglo-American and Continental European models.