CCEP – Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional

 

The certification requires so many years of professional experience and training. While many assume that you have to go to the official CCEP class . . . this is not true.

 

The exam (I cannot talk about the content because of the fine print) actually was much easier than I anticipated: which is a disappointment. I spent one hour preparing for the test. That is right, one hour. I reviewed the Compliance 101 book from SCCE ($60 for a 100 page paperback book) and the large binder The Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual ($315). I whipped through both skimming sections in one hour. For the price tag – very disappointed. The Compliance 101 book is enough. It takes the meat out of The Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual and reprints it in a small paperback. Most of the large binder is printouts of various regulations and guidance that is freely available.

 

With one hour of quick study I took the exam. I got 93 questions correct out of 100.

 

Of course much of this could be because of my experience in the compliance world for many years as well as a law degree – but I thought it would be more challenging than it was. The added process of professional experience and documented learning help provide more credibility to the certification.

 

No matter what – it is a good exam to test basic compliance knowledge and understanding from a United States perspective. It currently has limited value from an International perspective. So if you think you know compliance – I suggest taking it and testing your experience and knowledge. If you have a few years dealing with corporate compliance issues it should not be a problem.