The Online Compliance Consortium (OCC) is a business model designed for a regulated world.
The OCC collaboratively develops compliance and risk management training, tools and technology for the world's leading law firms. Representing 9 of the 10 magic circle firms, 60 of the top 100 UK firms and 24 of the top 25 US firms, the OCC applies a methodology that is designed to satisfy regulatory requirements whilst meeting the specific needs and quality standards of the world's leading law firms.
Compliance and risk management is best achieved when enough businesses in a profession or industry work together pragmatically to create the necessary tools that set best practice standards.
The OCC Core Group model allows like firms to share financial, intellectual and human resources to create solutions that directly satisfy their combined requirements. Since its inception in 2003 the OCC has spawned 10 Core Groups:
The OCC Risk Management System (RMS) is designed to allow a Compliance Team to efficiently manage risk and demonstrate to management and its regulator how it is doing so. The RMS evidences and tracks the control procedures and related activities the firm has put in place offering presentation-quality reporting and a complete audit trail.
VinciWorks' Risk Consulting Team can assist Compliance Officers in building and maintaining their Compliance Plan, Compliance Gap Analysis, Risk Register and Control Procedures, to ensure firms are using the RMS to the best of its capabilities and are prepared for regulators.
The RMS is cloud-based and secure with an intuitive web interface and advanced user-management capabilities which centralises access-control, communications, follow-up, alerts, reporting and audit capabilities as a complete and dynamic solution to replace the static Excel-based Risk Registers in place at many firms.
Based on the detailed specifications, features and functional requirements of 26 of the UK's leading law firms, VinciWorks designed and built the highly flexible OCC Learning Management System (LLMS) so that it could satisfy the unique needs of any professional firm.
The LLMS allows a firm to upload any format of learning content, automatically deploy, track, follow up and report on progress, scores, CPD, CLE and course completion whilst maintaining a detailed audit trail.
The LLMS includes VinciWorks unique "Nagware" that dynamically generates escalating reminders, and alerts that literally nag users to achieve compliance based on any event or non-event and or date.
Including Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Bribery, Data Protection, Risk Management, Solicitors Accounts Rules, the OCC online compliance suite of training courses are tailored to the needs of professional firms and designed to satisfy regulatory requirements whilst meeting the quality standards of the world's leading law firms.
All OCC courses are customisable allowing firms to integrate their own policies, procedures and firm specific messages.
The OCC compliance courses can be licensed individually or on a per firm basis.
Facilitated by VinciWorks the OCC has established itself as the benchmark for professional compliance solutions.
OCC Core Groups have to date produced the Online Compliance Suite consisting of innovative , highly engaging, e-learning training courses, a state of the art OCC Learning Management System and a Risk Register and Risk Management System. Current developments include a multi-jurisdictional CPD Tracking Engine, an Annual Declaration Management tool and a Client & Matter Inception solution.
VinciWorks facilitates the activities of the OCC whilst developing and project managing innovative e-learning, training administration, compliance, risk and knowledge management software for most of the top 100 global law firms and the world's leading banks including HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered and China Bank.
VinciWorks prides itself on its ability to identify and develop solutions that address client-specific requirements within budget and on time.
The activities of the OCC are facilitated and managed by VinciWorks which has customer support offices in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Australia and technical development and support in Jerusalem and Hyderabad. See our worldwide contact details below.
The right technology solutions don't happen by accident. The OCC collaborative approach allows VinciWorks (the OCC's development partner) to develop tools that help its clients ensure they get the solutions and services they need and want, on time and to budget.
Ask yourself some simple questions:
Outcomes Focused Regulation demands that you have the risk management processes in place. to effectively manage risk.. The days of tick-box compliance are dead, Lexcel accreditation alone may not be enough . Professional firms are now obligated to demonstrate that they have considered the risks and put in place effective controls to manage those risks. However, irrespective of the sophistication of your risk processes and software, any member of your staff has the ability to significant damage or at very least embarrass your firm, usually through a lapse or lack of awareness of the risks involved in a particular action, non-action or conversation. The only true guardians and custodians of your firm's reputation, profitability and well being are your partners, associates and support staff.
30 years of outstanding service can be destroyed by one stupid error. One email gets sent to the wrong person; an angry email goes public; full ID verification is not completed on the true beneficial owners; a partner side steps the conflict process; a letter or engagement is not obtained; the scope of a matter extends beyond the engagement terms resulting in fees not being recoverable; you miss a deadline; you pay hotel or other expenses on behalf of a client in breach SRA Accounts Rules; data about your staff or others is released, shared or lost in breach of the Data Protection Act; clients are entertained inappropriately in the circumstances, or an agent pays a small facilitation fee and you commit an offence under the Bribery Act.
The introduction to the new SRA Handbook states: "Firms will need to ensure that all employees (even if non-qualified and non-fee earners) receive appropriate training;" The AML Regulations and Bribery Act impose ongoing mandatory training of all relevant staff and Outcome O(7.6) in the SRA Handbook requires every firm to "train individuals working in the firm to maintain a level of competence appropriate to their work and level of responsibility".
In 2004, faced with the possibility of criminal liability and an obligation to deploy and track AML training across thousands of staff globally, 14 of the largest law firms collaborated to create the OCC online AML Training Courses that have now established a standard for the profession . The collaborative approach not only resulted in a very high quality training solution but the immediate and ongoing increase in the number of reports generated to the MRLO proved that e-learning can and does raise awareness across a firm. Having implemented the AML training for fee earners and support staff, 16 leading firms recognized that AML is only a sub-set of risk management and decided use the OCC collaborative approach combined with e-learning to improve the firms' overall risk profile and use the OCC Compliance Training Suite as one way to evidence the tools that the firm has in place to manage risk.
The aim of the OCC is to create a benchmark in online compliance tools and training and to set best practice standards for the legal profession. OCC firms pool their knowledge and resources to design appropriate tools to maintain compliance and to train professional staff.
The OCC compliance courses can be licensed individually on a per person or on a per firm basis.
The creation of the OCC Compliance Training Suite was driven by the OCC Core firms wanting to be able to provide all Compliance Training to all staff 24 x 7.
Jurisdiction-specific AML courses for Hong Kong and Sweden are available and a number of courses are appropriate for global deployment
The OCC Compliance Suite offers a firm:
All 2011 OCC courses have been updated and re-designed with engaging new interfaces and interactive scenarios.
All new courses include audio narration. All courses are accredited for CPD and RME where appropriate.
Some key benefits of the OCC online courses are:
The OCC Compliance Suite 2011 (26 courses - 26 CPD hours)
AML UK Fee Earner Base Course and Refresher Course (2 courses)
AML UK Support Staff Base Course and Refresher Course (2 courses)
Anti-Bribery & Corruption UK Course and International Course (2 courses)
Fundamentals of Outcomes-Focused Regulation (delivery 2011)
Data Protection for Fee Earners, Marketing and Human Resources (3 versions)
Solicitors' Accounts Rules for Fee Earners and Accounts Staff (2 versions)
Introduction to Risk Management
Risk Management: Client Engagement
Risk Management: Conflicts & Confidentiality
Risk Management: Matter Management
Risk Management: Email@Risk
Joint Ventures
Drafting for the Commercial Lawyer (2 courses)
Financial Statements (3 courses)
The Valuation Process (3 courses)
United Kingdom
Hong Kong
Australia
Israel