When it comes to compliance, we tell our clients to keep Board-approved policies “lean and mean” and to let their procedures (not Board approved) fill in the details. The Board’s job is to oversee your compliance management system which essentially means they need a 10,000-foot view of your compliance efforts and not the day-to-day details of how you accomplish them. We often give the example, on the AML/CFT side, that the Board needs a general understanding of why Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) are required, when they are required to be filed and the consequences of not doing so. What they don’t need to know is how to fill out a CTR.
In the video, Kevin discusses the distinction between policies and procedures and why it’s not a good idea to have your Board approve written procedures.
We also have an article entitled, “Policies, Procedures & Processes”, which is available in the Free Resources on our website. You will find it in the General Tools.
Published 2026/09/02