Early last year, a fintech player came under regulatory scrutiny. The country’s central bank ordered it to halt onboarding new customers and restricted certain operations due to persistent non-compliance with regulatory requirements. The fallout was quick – loss of public trust, impact on market capitalisation, and reputational damage. What went wrong? At the heart of the issue lay a weak Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) framework. GRC is not a buzzword for large corporations, it’s a lifeline for organisations, irrespective of size, trying to operate in a world of growing digital risk, regulatory scrutiny, and stakeholder expectations.
What is GRC and Why It Matters
GRC is essentially a strategic framework that enables organisations to act responsibly, avoid surprises, and stay aligned with their values and objectives. GRC also ensures that IT aligns with the broader business objectives, while highlighting potential risks and adhering to regulatory standards. It brings together governance, risk management, and compliance through integrated tools and practices, creating harmony between an organisation’s digital initiatives and its regulatory and ethical responsibilities.
Let’s break down each of the three elements:
- Governance refers to how an organisation is directed, managed, and held accountable. It involves ethical leadership, clear decision-making structures, and alignment between operations and strategic objectives. Effective governance establishes responsibilities, monitors performance, and promotes transparency across all levels. When governance is robust, it fosters a culture of accountability, integrity, and trust. This alignment of policies, processes, and people not only strengthens ethical conduct but also enhances organisational efficiency and ensures that everyone is working towards shared, sustainable goals.
- Risk management is the process of identifying, evaluating, and addressing potential threats that could impact an organisation – whether financial, operational, reputational, or cyber-related. Within a GRC framework, risk management plays a critical role by helping businesses proactively detect vulnerabilities and implement controls to minimise their impact. This structured approach not only protects the organisation from unexpected disruptions and financial losses but also strengthens its credibility with stakeholders. Finally, effective risk management fosters resilience, supports informed decision-making, and ensures long-term operational stability.
- The compliance function plays a vital role in ensuring that the organisation’s practices align with the relevant legal and regulatory obligations. This includes making certain that IT systems are properly managed, data is securely handled, and employee conduct adheres to both internal policies and external requirements. Compliance is not just about avoiding penalties; it’s about embedding a culture of accountability and integrity across the organisation.
A good GRC strategy is not just defensive. It creates business value while avoiding hefty legal fees and regulatory penalties. According to PwC’s Global Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023, nearly 90% respondents said that resilience was one of the key priorities for their organisation[1]. And the reason GRC matters is because it’s all about resilience. A robust GRC framework improves organisational agility, enabling companies to respond faster when risks are mapped and policies are clear. In addition, investors, customers, and employees are more likely to associate with ethical, transparent businesses.
GRC in India: Mandate Management is a Key Component
Mandate management is a crucial component of a robust GRC framework, particularly in highly regulated environments like India. In India, companies tend to approach GRC with a strong emphasis on meeting regulatory obligations, guided largely by the directives of authorities such as SEBI, RBI, IRDAI, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. India’s corporate environment operates within a vast and intricate regulatory framework, requiring adherence to 1,536 acts and rules, 69,233 compliances, and 6,618 filings, according to TeamLease RegTech[2]. The regulatory environment is also evolving rapidly. In January 2025 alone, there were reportedly 908 updates to central and state legislations[3]. As regulatory requirements continue to expand in scope and complexity, companies need to manage multiple statutory obligations from these regulatory bodies. Effective mandate management ensures that organisations not only stay compliant but also minimise operational and reputational risks through structured and timely adherence to all regulatory demands.
Mandate management is critical to ensure systematic tracking, allocating, and monitoring of compliance tasks across various departments and geographies. It provides transparency in operations, assigns accountability, and supports audit readiness. As part of a GRC framework, mandate management helps ensure that no regulatory requirement is overlooked and that compliance responsibilities are clearly defined and executed.
At Writer Information, our robust mandate management solution helps organisations stay compliant with complex and evolving regulatory requirements. It enables tracking of statutory obligations, timely alerts, and seamless documentation, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
CKYC: A Vital Aspect of GRC in India
In the GRC framework in India, the Central Know Your Customer (Central KYC or CKYC) plays a vital role, particularly in sectors like banking, insurance, and fintech where regulatory oversight is stringent. Introduced in India to streamline the KYC process across financial institutions, CKYC is a centralised database of customers in the financial sector. Its aim is to enhance compliance by centralising customer verification and reducing redundancy. From a governance perspective, it ensures standardised procedures and accountability in customer onboarding. In terms of risk management, CKYC helps detect identity fraud, money laundering, and financing of illicit activities by offering a unified, government-backed data repository. This proactive approach significantly reduces regulatory risk and improves operational efficiency. CKYC is not just a compliance obligation; it’s a strategic tool that supports trust, transparency, and long-term risk mitigation in the digital financial ecosystem.
In the area of CKYC, Writer Information supports financial institutions with an end-to-end approach to ensure secure, digitised KYC record management, aligned with regulatory standards. By integrating these services within a comprehensive GRC framework, we help businesses enhance accountability, ensure audit readiness, and maintain data integrity across operations.
GRC – A Business Imperative
In a business landscape where change is constant and scrutiny is sharper than ever, GRC is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s a business imperative. From managing compliance mandates to strengthening customer due diligence, the pieces of the GRC puzzle are interconnected. Whether it’s a startup or a large conglomerate, the right GRC framework can make the leap from crisis management to long-term resilience. Good governance is not just about ticking the boxes, it means running a smarter, safer, and more sustainable business.
[1] https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/crisis-solutions/global-crisis-survey.html
[2] https://teamleaseregtech.com/reports/beyond-accidental-compliance/
[3] https://indiaemployerforum.org/compliance/monthly-compliance-roundup-january-2025/
