Use Of Documents And Records Is Explained With Reference To Legal Compliance And Corporate Governance (SO4-AC2)

Record management is all tasks dedicated to information management throughout its life cycle - supported as records - that belongs to an organisation; from the moment of its creation or insertion in the company to its eventual destruction or disposal taking into consideration as well their role in business process management.

According to the international standard ISO 15489: Information and documentation - Records management, defines the record is the information created, received and maintained as evidence and information of an organisation or person, in compliance with its legal obligations or business transactions.

An organisation’s records management involves identifying, classifying, storing - document storage - recovering, controlling and preserving or destroying records.

Unlike many sources of information, records have a distinctive feature that is the life cycle; which includes the creation, processing, distribution, maintenance, evaluation and application of disposal - meaning the destruction of the record or the permanent conservation.

Compliance with Legal Requirements

Compliance with legal requirements or applicable regulations means ensuring compliance with the records management policies, verifying that the company is aligned - for example - with the procedures for the retention of records, marked by law.

Records management can exist without an enterprise content management system, but it is much easier to manage them (especially if they are in digital format) with the help of an electronic records management system.

Compliance with regulations or legal requirements is something that, in essence, any organisation has to do in its day-to-day.

The use of records management systems helps companies propose, apply and develop the necessary policies and procedures; since non-compliance with regulations can lead to significant penalties and affect the continuity of the organisation.

Electronic records management systems help mitigate financial responsibility and the risk of litigation when deviations are detected in compliance with applicable legal requirements.

By having a document management system, we can manage any audit or inspection with higher solvency and effectiveness. Besides, the growing number of regulatory initiatives and legal regulations is increasingly sophisticated and complicated to maintain.