Life in the time of COVID 19 - is your training up to date?

One of the points that the consulting and legal communities have settled into agreement on is the likelihood that regulators are likely to do a quick lap around companies that have been trading commodities through the COVID pandemic to make sure nothing glaring is hiding. And one point that is easy for the regulators to look at is your training program. Here are some points to consider:
1. Many companies utilize industry conferences or training firms to provide training - much of it off site. With COVID, has the training been deferred? Any number of firms are doing Zoom or webinar training, that is a good replacement. And if people are doing remote training, how are you keeping company records of training attendance for the regulators - if there isn't a record, it never happened.
2. With the swings in liquidity, have you been trading different products or, more importantly, different exchanges? This is especially important for firms outside the US trading US commodity exchanges. DCM has taught both EU and US exchange regulation classes - it cannot be stressed too much that these are very different worlds. Approaching US regulators and exchanges as if they were EU or UK regulators can be a rude awakening when you realize the rules, enforcement tools, and regulatory philosophies are fundamentally different. In the US, a firm has strict liability for the actions of its employees and agents.
3. Which brings us to our final point about training - it is cheap protection for your company. The DCM blog over the last several years has repeatedly pointed out the CFTC and exchanges penchant for assessing "failure to adequately supervise" penalties. One recurring points in the disciplinary notice is the failure of the company's training to address the issue the employee created.
It would be appropriate to develop a training plan (as opposed to the frequent "once a year" training) that works through the period from 100% remote work through the transition to the "new normal". Best practice would be to engage and include senior management - possibly the board - on the plan and the training and role it out in a measured plan to keep the topics fresh and top of mind.