Everyone is a Compliance Officer: How Capacity Building Helps Businesses Thrive

A photo of the recent APAC Fighting Financial Crime Conference 2025 held in Hong Kong, hosted by the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime (GCFFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Picture by Julia Chin.

Capacity Building

Capacity building is the process by which organisations enhance their skills and resources to make effective progress towards objectives. When faced with concerns around regulatory compliance, governance and financial crime, businesses which lack the capacity to navigate such issues can see negative impacts to long-term growth. The recent APAC Fighting Financial Crime Conference 2025 in Hony Kong also highlighted a need for true capacity building in today’s business climate. This extends beyond training and educational initiatives for individuals, but also towards enhancing capabilities at an organisational and societal level.

Everyone is a Compliance Officer  

A quote from Warren Buffet echoes the industry’s sentiment on capacity building: "Everyone must be [their] own compliance officer. That means everything you do can be put on the front page of the newspaper, and there will be nothing that cannot stand up to scrutiny." A reputation for irresponsibility or bad practice can spread rapidly, such as the Australian PwC tax leaks scandal in 2023. The firm’s financial misconduct resulted in a $820 million loss in revenue and widespread financial impacts on the four largest tax consultancies, where primary advisor engagements dropped from 54 to 26 percent. When mistakes can have extensive consequences for businesses, it is imperative to build capacity on a wider scale to eliminate weak links and promote better outcomes. Fostering compliance-related capabilities from within is critical to a firm’s long-term sustainability and resilience. With the right base of knowledge, businesses are better able to identify potential risks, to solve new problems, and to adapt to changes in the financial world. Investing in internal capabilities also reduces an organisation’s reliance on external support. 

The Benefits of Capacity Building

Another benefit of capacity building is greater efficiency in resource allocation. As employees build capabilities, they understand how to best utilise resources by adopting a risk-based approach: prioritising the right goals, leveraging new technologies, and applying foolproof methods.

Combating Financial Crime

Lessons from capacity building can also aid organisations in better combating financial crime. Money laundering and fraud as a service are becoming increasingly interlinked with other criminal activities, and the ability to identify those associations within a financial ecosystem is crucial. With illicit activities posing potential risks to individuals and communities, it is essential to cultivate the right resources and skills to avoid such threats.

However, capacity building alone may not be enough to navigate a fast-changing financial world. As the nature of regulations and financial crime continues to evolve, achieving success can be difficult for small or newer businesses lacking the resources to tackle such issues. At JFourth Solutions, we ensure our clients establish a strong foundation via capacity building. We also offer the further development of technical skillsets via capability building and long-term organisational resilience, which we will discuss in a future article.

How Businesses Can Thrive

On a broader scale, the widespread understanding of compliance results in good governance and ethical practices by contributing to a more transparent, accountable, and participatory system. One of the key learnings of capacity building is that compliance does not obstruct business, but reduces risk and allows organisations to succeed unimpeded. 

To build capacity and support growing businesses, JFourth Solutions leverages decades of experience to offer bespoke training and workshops suitable for our clients at a corporate or systemic level. At JFourth, our goal is to aid our partners in fostering a culture of compliance and good practice, which has become increasingly important for businesses in recent years. Read more about what we do here.

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Join JFourth's professional community here. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive curated insights on banking and compliance, business updates and ongoing networking opportunities. Unsure about how compliance training can help your firm? Read about how companies can utilise financial intelligence to identify suspicious transactions and protect children in the first part of our Anti-Money Laundering Series, or refer back to our Top Trends in Banking and Compliance for 2025.