Humor: It's all relative!

This Investment News article’s headline about a regulatory attorney caught my eye:  “Giachetti adds humor to compliance.” At CCS, we talk about bringing humor to compliance all the time, but it isn’t easy. There is laughter in the office, but not too much of it relates to our work. After reading the article, and no offense to Mr. Giachetti, I think humor may be relative. The article refers to the possibility of an alternative universe in which there is a comedy club for “financial regulatory wonks.” I think that is very alternative. I do not think, in this universe, there is such a demand. I am not one to talk: my family tells me I am generally only funny once a month. As the end of the month approaches, there is often discussion about whether I have been funny yet.

That said, there is a specific comment from the article that is very consistent with our experience – though it is not humorous at all: “firms will hire marketing consultants, most of whom haven’t got a clue about the business. And they will spend an exorbitant amount of money on a marketing campaign, but they won’t spend an hour to pay me to review the proposed material to make sure that they can actually use this stuff.” So often, with advertising review, we are brought in too late to avoid the compliance problem – we can only try to minimize the regulatory impact after the fact. Don’t be like that. Pay for the hour up front… it is worth it.