COMPLIANCE
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The legal environment in which businesses develop their activities is broader and more complex every day. The level of belligerence of authorities and regulatory bodies is higher every day and the impact of all that regulation is more intense than ever.
Although the concept of compliance is not new, the fast and recent evolution of the international legislation, combined with the increased sanctions, as well as the relevance that same legislation gives to the implementation of preventive measures by organizations, has made compliance one of the most innovative and recurrent subjects to be included in the management and vision strategies on any organization.
TAX COMPLIANCE
There is no doubt that compliance is here to stay and tax compliance, with all its peculiarities, is part of it. It is true that, except for the regulations contained in the Ley de Sociedades de Capital in relation with corporate tax governance, which are obligatory for companies trading in the stock market, the precedents at national and international level are nothing but recommendations, codes of conduct of voluntary adherence. However, the implementation and use of mechanisms for the management and control of tax contingencies is a reality that affects legal entities of all condition that will continue to evolve without any doubt. Therefore, Spanish companies should progressively incorporate the tax compliance to their operating guidelines as an integral part of their overall corporate governance, transparency and compliance systems.
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The detection, management and control of tax contingencies, in their different forms, is one of the main sources of concern for our corporations, no matter their size or sector of activity. In the current tax environment, the risk inherent in the non-observance of the fiscal regulations and duties is becoming increasingly important. In this situation, tax compliance is a tool of great value in order to avoid or minimize potential penalties due to administrative faults or criminal offenses.
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
Money laundering activities are aimed at giving legal appearance to monetary funds of illicit origin. Measures to prevent money laundering are all those that try to avoid all the mechanisms used by criminals to hide the illicit origin of their funds in order to put them in the legal capital markets.
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The companies and institutions affected by the anti-money laundering laws must have adequate control and communication procedures and teams in place for the identification and prevention of money laundering practices. Additionally, other measures to avoid money laundering activities are the organization, by the companies and institutions affected by the related legislation, of training seminars and special courses for their staff, so they become familiar with the requirements of the anti-money laundering laws. This is even more important for those positions that are ideal for the detection of transactions that might be related with money laundering activities, so those employees can effectively identify their occurrence and they know how to proceed in those events.
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The list of subjects affected by the anti-money laundering legislation is long and the penalties that may be imposed on companies and their directors are very heavy.
