Our chapter on bureaucracy and the administrative state discusses the cost of complying with f
ederal regulations.
At The Hill, Ben Goad and Julian Hattem report that growing
regulatory activity has created jobs in the compliance industry
ObamaCare, the Dodd-Frank Act and other large federal undertakings have led to an outpouring of new agency rules derided by business groups and defended by advocates.
But the regulations have also been a boon for professional compliance officers paid to help companies understand and adapt to the new requirements.
“Staff to track compliance issues is on the rise, and it has been for the last several years,” said Richard Riese, senior vice president for regulatory compliance at the American Bankers Association. “And, at the moment, there’s no prospect it will decrease anytime soon.”
Data kept by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows an 18-percent increase in the number of compliance officers in the United States between 2009 and 2012, according to an analysis conducted by the conservative American Action Forum (AAF).
At last count, there were an estimated 227,500 compliance officers employed in the United States, according to the BLS. The bureau defines a compliance officer as an employee responsible for evaluating conformity with laws and regulations.
And compliance has fostered the growth of interest groups:
Over the last five years, membership at the Health Care Compliance Association has grown at a rate of roughly 9 percent annually, according to Roy Snell, the trade group’s chief executive.
He said the compliance industry’s growth reflects a shift within companies to consolidate compliance duties under a single officer or department.
From the AAF report:
