Lindelwe Zwane, the Managing
Executive: Compliance at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking says the role of
compliance in the financial services sector has changed significantly over the
years. Compliance has and continues to evolve to meet the ever increasing demands
and complexity of financial regulation, she says.



“Compliance has to evolve from traditional methods of managing compliance towards integrated risk management using automation to leapfrog compliance from gatekeeper to game changer. 



 “To meet the demands of a rapidly changing financial services industry, the compliance function has to shift its focus by using data insights to inform decision making and creating value for the business,” she says.



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She says there has been an increase in the use of robotics process automation and predictive analytics for risk assessment, monitoring and testing, complaints management, surveillance and regulatory reporting.&nbsp; “This creates efficiency and saves costs in the long run,” Zwane says. 



Zwane, who assumed her
position in 2017 has a big task ahead of her. 



“As the CIB Chief Compliance Officer, I am primarily responsible for overseeing the Compliance Programme for CIB globally to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and policies of the bank. I am also responsible for safeguarding the reputation of the bank and driving culture change within the organisation,” she explains.



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A qualified lawyer with 18
years post qualification experience, Zwane has worked in various roles in the
industry including as a Legal Manager at Deloitte and as Senior Legal Counsel
for Deutsche Bank in South Africa. She joined Absa in 2015. 



She describes her rise in the
corporate world as a journey of self-discovery and reinventing herself through
learning. “This has helped me shift my mind-set and opened up new growth
opportunities and challenges,” says Zwane, who leads a team of 30 professionals
in her division. 



She agrees that finding a perfect balance between work, personal and family life is always important, and this she achieves by being 100% present. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Wendy Tan in her book Wholeness in a Disruptive World (2017) says balancing is not a 50:50 compromise. Its 100:100 over time. We need to be, think and act whole to do our best at work. This means that work life balance does not have to be a zero sum game,” Zwane says. </blockquote>



She handles pressure by
staying focused on the goals to be accomplished and asking for help if she
needs it. 



Scanning the future, Zwane says
in the next five to 10 years, she would like to be in a role where she can
continually deepen and diversify her skills to become an enterprise leader.
What is her advice to young, upcoming women professionals?&nbsp; “Lift as you rise. We need women to invest in
women,” she says.

Tag: Lindelwe Zwane

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The Evolution Of Compliance In The Banking Sector