Introduction


In 2021, Compliance Division, in addition to dealing with the ongoing handling of issues arising out of the unpredictability of the pandemic, has been called to address new strategic challenges and their subsequent repercussions, that have emerged as result of this new status quo. Environmental, social and corporate governance has been a priority on agendas of financial institutions for a few years, however the last couple of years we saw focus skyrocket in boardrooms, in the media and amongst legislators and regulators. The financial services around the world are thus abruptly shifting focus in the reporting of what material financial impact they experience from climate change under a new disclosure mandate that is the first of its kind in the world. A strong and effective ethics and compliance program is thus a key objective and way of operating and conducting business, which can effectively lead the way towards new efficiencies to encourage such environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives to blossom. In order to ensure that aligning of the said goals from all stakeholders , it is often the case to align these through annual performance goals as a way to help ensure that employees are aligned and committed to the direction set by senior leadership, and use annual performance goals as a way to tie compensation to performance against the stated goals. This would ultimately lead in creating the appropriate culture for such strategies to ensue.