300 professionals attend the University of Debrecen’s 4th Compliance Conference

The role of compliance has now gone beyond simply ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. It has become a key management tool in organizational operations, contributing to trust, transparency and long-term competitiveness. This was one of the main conclusions of the 4th Compliance Conference held at the University of Debrecen on Thursday, which was attended by nearly 300 professionals.

The organizers aimed to provide a platform for discussing current issues related to compliance, regulatory adherence, risk management and organizational integrity, while also creating an opportunity to share professional experiences and strengthen dialogue. Accordingly, legal, economic, regulatory and corporate perspectives were all represented, allowing compliance issues to be examined from a complex, multidimensional perspective, the university’s press center reported.

Zoltán Bács, rector of the University of Debrecen, said they have observed that while the importance of compliance has been increasing year by year, its content is also changing, developing and expanding.

The key questions today remain: Are we complying with the rules and norms? Is our organization operating properly? Can we identify risks? Are we able to adapt? Is our data secure? And, above all, do people trust us?

“The University of Debrecen is a huge organization, responsible for the daily lives of tens of thousands of people. We have tens of thousands of students and nearly 15,000 employees. Therefore, it is very important that we are not only regulated, but also meet the expectations of compliance,” Rector Zoltán Bács said.

György Kossa, director of the university’s Institute of Public Service Expertise and an expert in economic security and resilience, recalled that compliance was first addressed by listed companies operating in the United States in the 1980s.

“Its development has now reached the point where it has become indispensable. Leaders must acquire this knowledge because the resilience of the organizations they manage cannot be ensured without compliance,” Kossa said.

In his presentation, he explained that much depends on whether people in leadership positions are able to properly handle situations in which poor decisions or conflicts of interest may arise. He noted that it matters greatly what condition a company or organization is in when an unexpected situation occurs. It is also crucial what regulations and standards are in force at the time and how effectively they are implemented within the organization.

He cited the Hungarian red mud disaster, the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the major power outage in Spain and Portugal in 2025 as examples.

Zsuzsanna Herman, compliance director at the University of Debrecen, emphasized that ethical compliance with legislation is not always sufficient. Today’s environment is characterized by economic uncertainty, rapidly changing legislation, expanding business relationships, data protection issues and problems associated with artificial intelligence, all of which can create high-risk situations.

She said responsible management decisions, preliminary risk assessments and traceable internal controls are therefore essential. Such measures can help the compliance function reach its full potential and improve an organization’s resilience.

Speaking about the European Union’s anti-corruption directive adopted in May this year, Herman said that although the detailed rules are not yet known, the common elements will include detecting corruption-related offenses, ensuring sound business compliance and imposing sanctions.

“It is already worth examining who makes decisions in these high-risk processes, who monitors them and how conflicts of interest are handled. Rules alone are not enough; controls are also needed,” the compliance director said.

János Rausch, managing attorney at Bán, S. Szabó, Rausch & Partners Law Firm, spoke about the new rules concerning the liability of legal entities. He said that managers are responsible for preparing properly documented internal policies and ensuring that these are monitored and enforced. This can help organizations avoid criminal liability and measures being imposed against them.

Barnabás Farkas, head of the Integrity Department of OTP Bank’s Compliance Directorate, highlighted that the bank has introduced anti-corruption measures in line with compliance requirements. The relevant rules have been incorporated into a code of conduct, which the bank seeks to ensure is followed not only by its employees but also by its business partners.

Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises generally do not have extensive legal support because of their financial limitations, making compliance with regulations a greater challenge for them. Nevertheless, the task is not impossible, Gábor Agócs, president of the Hungarian Chamber of Auditors, pointed out.

Speaking about the new challenges posed by artificial intelligence and data protection, Norbert Vass, head of the Digital Data Strategy Department at the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, said company leaders need to assess what AI can and cannot be used for within their organizations. Appropriate training and regulations are necessary for the use of these technologies, he added.

Edina Szólláth, a compliance expert at Wolters Kluwer Hungary, said that the regulatory environment, technologies, business models and natural structures are constantly changing. The future of compliance, she concluded, therefore lies in managing change in a responsible and conscious way.

Judit Firniksz, a researcher at the Competition Law Research Centre of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, pointed out in connection with artificial intelligence that we can only regulate and control what we understand.

It needs to be clearly defined what AI is allowed to do, when it must ask the user for instructions, what data it may use, how it should handle the rights of third parties and what sources of images it may publish. Otherwise, in an unregulated environment, a machine could even conclude that humans can be removed from the decision-making chain.

The 4th Compliance Conference concluded with a panel discussion led by Zsuzsanna Herman. Participants included Zoltán Bács, rector of the University of Debrecen; György Kossa, director of the university’s Institute of Public Service Expertise; Gábor Agócs, president of the Hungarian Chamber of Auditors; attorney Dóra Dékány, the Hungarian Bar Association’s whistleblowing officer; attorney Adél Molnár, the Hungarian Bar Association’s data protection officer; and Attila Kármán, compliance director at Fundamenta Lakáskassza Zrt.

The discussion covered, among other topics, how to strike a balance between fast and flexible decision-making and the necessary controls, how artificial intelligence can be used in decision-making, how AI may transform different areas of work, and how public-interest data can be requested and disclosed.

Rector Zoltán Bács also addressed artificial intelligence during the panel discussion. He highlighted that the university already has an AI policy, but the use of the technology continues to present new challenges, meaning that professionals also need to keep their knowledge up to date.

The rector also revealed that the university plans to develop online training material for its employees, similar to the training provided for occupational safety, which staff would be able to complete online.

(unideb.hu)