Family offices are increasing their focus on governance amid growing regulatory demands and multi-jurisdictional complexities.

Research from Ocorian found that 86 per cent of family offices ranked ‘having the right governance in place’ as their biggest challenge.

The firm noted that, as professionalism amongst family offices improved, the emphasis on governance had intensified.

This focus was reflective of the broader industry trend of enhanced scrutiny and regulatory oversight, Ocorian stated, with family offices — many of which operate across different jurisdictions — facing diverse and increasingly stringent compliance obligations.

“Governance has become a principal focus for family offices, and it is something that consistently comes up in conversations with my clients,” commented Ocorian commercial director – private client, Michael Harman.

In response to this growing regulatory complexity, family offices were seeking independent, expert guidance to ensure compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

To tackle risk and compliance challenges, Ocorian outlined three ‘lines of defence’, the first of which was creating clear and robust frontline processes and procedures, supplementing this with both online and face to face training programmes for staff.

Secondly, the firm recommended building and empowering a comprehensive compliance oversight function, which monitors and assesses the processes and procedures, as well as advising and supporting staff and senior managers to comply with the firm's obligations.

Finally, it suggested family offices should seek review and challenge of the firm’s AML framework via annual independent audits.

Bovill Newgate Guernsey head, Cilla Torode, said the findings aligned with the challenges the company was seeing across the broader financial services sector.

“Whether it's family offices or alternative fund managers, governance remains a central concern,” Torode continued.

“In fact in a study we commissioned earlier this year in partnership with Ocorian, two thirds (65 per cent) of alternative fund managers admit being subject to governance related fines or sanctions during the last two years and nine in 10 (90 per cent) see their organisation’s focus on governance increasing over the next 24 months.

“With regulatory frameworks continuing to evolve, particularly for family offices operating across different jurisdictions, the need for robust governance practices has never been more pressing.”

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