Language Barriers, Compliance, and Risk

Corporate compliance covers internal policies and procedures, as well as federal and state laws. Enforcing compliance ensures violations of rules and regulations are detected and prevented, therefore, protecting organizations from fines and lawsuits. Most organizations establish an internal program to govern compliance policies consistently and accurately to guarantee that this process is ongoing. Organizations need to plan for potential audits and regulatory investigations to reduce overall risk and exposure; understanding the relevant information or documentation is essential for overcoming these challenges.  

“Regulatory bodies can request specific information; identifying these requirements can also be time-consuming, costly and complex. Knowing where the information exists and the context required can be overwhelming, especially with the variation of information sources we have access to today. This information, however, can be discoverable in a lawsuit or audit as part of the process,” comments Jen Farnham, Legal Business Development Director, Park IP, a Welocalize Company. 

Language Components  

When the document collection or data set contains foreign languages, the problem becomes considerably more complex. Considering the speed at which most investigations progress and the quick turnaround times often required, it is vital to ensure your legal counsel has a language partner offering expertise and tools to address these concerns quickly and efficiently.  

The most important characteristics of a great consultative language partner are as follows:  

• Knowledge and expertise in linguistics and syntax. 
• E-discovery capabilities and intelligent review of documents to identify relevant content.  
• Repeatable or automated content review processes to improve speed and cut costs. 
• Technology and AI for language review and analytics. 
• Possible predictive analysis to suggest document types and reviewing required information. 
• Use of machine translation to process large categories of documents and produce a more specific subset that may require human translation.  
• The ability to expand its workforce to meet tight deadlines and client demands.  

It is critical to partner with a language expert with experience in compliance and regulatory fields to ensure the work is certified and court-ready in the case of litigation. Finished translations should also include a Certificate of Accuracy, as regulatory bodies often require these. Organizations must also be wary of FIPO (For Information Purpose Only) quotes that do not include complete QA, proofreading or certification. These will be less expensive to process but do not give you the confidence and certainty that the translation is correct and may not prepare your legal team effectively for various matters.  

Cookies and other tracking technologies have received significant attention in the last few months from regulators across Europe. Follow the link to access a Cookie Compliance guide from Trilateral Research.  

How Park IP, a Welocalize Company, Can Help 

Welocalize can help address significant concerns around language barriers, compliance, and risk. Welocalize transforms content for new languages across platforms, devices, and channels, ensuring content resonates locally and delivers superior customer experience worldwide. Welocalize also converts the data that powers machine learning for natural language processing (NLP) to enable insights that result in effective action and better linguistic performance. 

“Our core competency lies within content translation offering global strategic services such as marketing communications, transcreation, adaptation, and digital content performance. Additionally, our language services support multimedia, e-learning, linguistic testing, data validation, and interpreting,“ adds Ms. Farnham. 

Welocalize specializes in providing high quality and accurate translation and localization services, combining innovative quality management systems with experienced linguists. Welocalize also aims to help transform how organizations utilize their information as an asset ensuring that content becomes a valuable data set and provides insight to drive better performance, increase revenue, and deeper customer engagement.     

Above all else, Welocalize can reduce risk and increase compliance across records management and information governance programs. With systems and workflows built for data security and quality control, our global operations have achieved ISO 9001:2015, ISO 13485:2016, ISO 17100:2015, and ISO 18587:2017 certifications. 

In highly regulated industries that are heavily audited and subject to many laws and regulations, unsatisfactory translations can risk potential fines and investigations. Therefore, internal requirements such as patent filings, e-discovery, research, clinical trials, and financial reporting demand greater attention to detail and accurate translations.  

Learn More 

Watch the latest on-demand recording from Park IP to hear our experts discuss language barriers associated with compliance & risk and the solutions to address them.

Connect with us to find out more about our compliance & risk solutions and how Park IP can assist with your language service needs.