Beyond Compliance - promoting the highest professional standards in our industry
With more than 2 million staff providing security and related services in over 120 countries, members of the Security Ligue play a vital role, contributing to the security and safety of people and assets all over the world.  To be successful in this role, it is vital that we employ the best people, apply effective screening and training and meet or exceed the requirements of national and international laws and ethical standards.

In our industry, we describe this as ‘compliance’, but what does compliance mean in the context of the global security market?  It means complying with the spirit and letter of laws, regulations and rules governing our businesses and it means upholding the standards expected of global leaders in security.

Indeed, we know that the best organisations regard compliance as a minimum standard and the Security Ligue promotes an approach which moves beyond compliance into best practice. 
 
Safety and Security – promoting health, safety and security in our industry
In the global security market in which we operate, we are accustomed to intense competition, but one area where co-operation would benefit the industry, customers and end-users of services, is that of safety and security standards and practices.
 
On a daily basis, security officers, cash in transit crew members and other industry colleagues are facing new and evolving threats to their safety and to the valuable items they protect, both from external threats and from every-day hazards faced by them during their working day.
 
Security companies across the world are investing in knowledge gathering, technology and training to prevent or minimise the impact of safety risks to colleagues - but often this is taking place in isolation when a collective approach to safety could have greater impact.
 
Sharing information on safety threats, working together to support our lawmakers and law enforcement agencies in addition to pooling certain resources to prevent or mitigate risk, can have a positive impact for companies working in the security industry and, more profoundly, on the safety of colleagues delivering these important services on the front line.
 
This is one area where members of the Security Ligue can play a major role - our goal has to be to eradicate injuries and fatalities across our industry – a tall order, one might say, but an entirely appropriate goal.

Cash Matters - promoting the value of cash in our society
As technology continues to move forward rapidly, consumers have never had such a wide range of choices as to how they undertake everyday tasks.  Nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the payments industry, with an ever-increasing range of options for the payment of goods and services.  But concerns about access, inclusion, data security, privacy and reliability mean that consumers continue to want access to the full range of payment options, including cash.
 
The World Cash Report (www.g4scashreport.com) published in April this year following research across 47 countries covering 75 per cent of global GDP concluded that cash is still by far the most widely used form of payment in all regions of the world and that the use of cash continues to grow.
 
Consumers trust cash.  It is free to use and readily available.  It is confidential, can’t be hacked and doesn’t run out of battery power.  These unique qualities continue to hold significant value to people living on all continents.  Consumers value a range of payment options and there is no region where everyone chooses the same way to pay - cash remains hugely important all over the world.
 
The risk for retailers and other sectors is that by limiting the available payment options they may start to limit their attractiveness for consumers who continue to demand a range of payment options which often include cash – perhaps inadvertently excluding those for which choice is important.
 
As an industry, we should continue to promote the virtues of cash alongside other payment instruments.  But to ensure that choice for the consumer remains, we also have to work hard to make sure cash remains a competitive payment method and continue to find new, more efficient ways of managing the cash cycle for our customers.
 
These three themes are my immediate priorities as Chairman of the Ligue. I look forward to working with our members on making progress in these important areas for our global industry.
 
About The Ligue
The International Security Ligue was founded in 1934. The registered offices are based in Berne, Switzerland. The Ligue is an association of private security organisations throughout the free world.
Over the years it has played a vital role in defining, establishing and maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards of the private security industry as we know it world-wide.

This has been achieved through the very open and cordial exchange of ideas and experiences between the member companies, who are all leading companies in the countries they represent.
The Ligue is now represented on all continents and in thirty four countries.

As a mark of the high esteem in which the Ligue is held worldwide it is represented in a consultative capacity as a non-governmental organisation at the United Nations and the European Common Market.
www.security-ligue.org