About Compliance Education Institute

How It Began

In 2013, Mick Kless founded Compliance Education Institute (CEI) initially as an offshoot of R.I.S.C. Associates. Founded in 2008, RISC Associates is a GLBA-focused professional services consultancy and developer of Vendor Compliance Manager, an automated vendor management solution used by banks and credit unions around the country. With deep expertise in managing 3rd party relationships and designing, building, implementing and managing 3rd party risk management programs, Mick recognized that much of the industry was throwing darts at what a 3rd party risk management program was supposed to look like.

Tired of hearing that his clients were told to “Go read Guidance” or “Do what your policy says” when asking their examiners for help on improving their vendor management programs, Kless was determined to create a standard for designing, building and implementing a 3rd party risk management program. 2,500 hours later the Certified Regulatory Vendor Program Manager (CRVPM®) course was published.

Mission: Make Better Business Decisions

“My goal was to educate and provide practical information that could be put to use right away so that our clients could stay a step ahead and better understand the risks associated with outsourcing. A better understanding of risks leads to making better business decisions and ultimately mitigating those risks,” stated Kless.

On a mission to provide detailed, practical education regarding many different specialized facets of 3rd party risk management, Kless authored nine additional courses, including an Advanced Certification course that tracks through issues and challenges of the five components of the 3rd party risk management lifecycle. “There’s a huge thirst for 3rd party program risk management knowledge in every industry I can think of yet very few reliable and comprehensive resources.

The Result

Now in its 7th year, the CRVPM® course is the #1 vendor management program certification course. More than 2,600 registrants throughout 18 countries have received their CRVPM designation and many have gone on to take the CRVPM Level II, III and IV Advanced course as well as the additional specialized courses. Due to the solid set of fundamentals taught in the CRVPM course, it has transcended market sectors and counts the following as clients:

  • Banks
  • Credit Unions
  • Banking Technology providers
  • Audit Firms
  • Consultancies
  • Non-banking Financial Services
  • Securities/Brokerage
  • Insurance
  • Retail
  • Mortgage
  • Education
  • Vendor Management Software Solutions developers