Compliance Programme Issue Log
This is a practical guide to building a issue log for a compliance programme project — a register of problems that have occurred and need resolving, adapted to the realities of achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance.
What a Issue Log is
A issue log is a register of problems that have occurred and need resolving. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Issue Log. On a compliance programme project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Compliance Programme project
Compliance Programme projects live or die on achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance. A well-built issue log gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how compliance programme projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Issue description
- Priority and severity
- Owner
- Resolution and status
Compliance Programme-specific considerations
Tailor the issue log to the risks that most often derail compliance programme projects:
- Evolving regulation
- Evidence and audit
- Cross-department coordination
Example
On a real compliance programme project, the issue log would be shaped by achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — evolving regulation, evidence and audit, cross-department coordination — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.