Financial Services Compliance Officers Saddled with Dated Technology, Tight Job Market Fight to Manage Implementation and Staffing, New Survey Says

Survey of senior-level executives finds concern with workload, difficulty integrating compliance systems enterprise-wide

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Mphasis

Aug 02, 2016, 09:14 ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, many financial institution executives are concerned that they have insufficient staff, technology and budgetary resources to support their anti-money-laundering (AML) efforts, a survey of financial service executives released today by financial technology solutions provider NextAngles™ revealed.

The top future concern for executives regarding AML was effective enterprise-wide compliance and integration, with 79 percent describing themselves as moderately or very concerned. The respondents also said case analysis time is concentrated heavily on routine monitoring such as data analysis (35 percent), data collection (34 percent) and data consolidation (29 percent).

For 2016 and 2017, cybersecurity, Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, and AML remain top priorities.

AML in particular presents a host of challenges for financial institutions. In addition to the integration of AML systems in different business functions and regions, future concerns cited by respondents include the introduction of new regulations (77 percent), staffing challenges (76 percent), and a lack of clarity regarding rules for compliance with existing regulations.

The online survey of 280 senior-level executives of financial institutions with $3 billion or more in assets was conducted in May, 2016 by SourceMedia Research for NextAngles™. All survey participants are involved in compliance-related decision-making and execution.

When asked to outline their priorities related to their overall governance, risk and compliance strategy, cybersecurity was cited as a top concern by 81 percent of respondents, while 71 percent cited anti-money laundering and 72 percent said know-your-customer regulations were top priorities.

Despite increasing technological advances in artificial intelligence-based compliance solutions, 27 percent of respondents said their staff still utilize spreadsheets on the job.

Staffing remains a challenge due to a multitude of factors. More than three quarters cited the competitive job market as a concern, while 77 percent noted a shortage of qualified applicants and their own hiring budget as a concern. 67 percent said compliance training of existing staff remains a challenge.

"The survey shows increasing anxiety among financial institution executives that they are insufficiently staffed and equipped for today's compliance challenges," said Mallinath Sengupta, Chief Executive of NextAngles™. "Even more concerning, the inability to build cohesion in AML systems leaves institutions vulnerable to missed red flags, inefficiencies, and redundancies."

The survey showed that a majority of companies employ fewer than 1,000 employees dedicated to compliance, with about 20 percent viewing that level as too low. And while 9 out of 10 bankers said they would be interested in an anti-money laundering (AML) solution that provides an integrated view of customer data; evolves incrementally with usage; and can be applied across diverse risk and compliance areas, three quarters did not know where to find such a solution in the current market.

To view the full NextAngles™ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Survey Results, please visit: https://nextangles.com/downloads/download-info/nextangles-anti-money-laundering-survey/

To read a NextAngles™ white paper analysis of the current AML compliance landscape, please visit: https://nextangles.com/downloads/download-info/the-aml-compliance-landscape/

About NextAngles™
NextAngles™ is a venture within Mphasis Corporation. We believe in Compliance Reimagined —a new breed of disruptive solutions for regulatory risk and compliance. The solution we are building incorporates cognitive models and smart data that empower intelligent system behaviors. Our smart compliance approach reduces the risk, burden, cost, and stress of compliance substantially, harnesses data streams to automate fulfillment of multiple regulatory requirements, and scales to meet enterprise-class business and regulatory challenges. For more information, please visit www.nextangles.com

About Mphasis
Mphasis enables chosen customers to meet the demands of an evolving market place. Recently named by American Banker and BAI as one of the top companies in FinTech and as the "Most Distinguished Digital Company in 2015" by The Economic Times, Mphasis fuels this by combining superior human capital with cutting edge solutions in hyper-specialized areas. Contact Mphasis on www.mphasis.com

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