By Adam Turteltaub

Shawn DeGroot is not a big fan of waiting for the regulators to knock.  Instead, she advises compliance officers to reach out to regulators proactively, even before anything goes wrong.  By establishing a relationship with the regulator, she explains, you can build trust and have a resource when you need one.

In this podcast she explains:

* The benefits of having a relationship with the regulators

* The need to remember that regulators are human and have a job to do

* The importance of honesty and transparency

* How you communicate can be especially important

* What to do after a conversation that went wrong

Listen in before you reach out to your regulator, whether for the first time or the umpteenth time.