Thriving in the new era of compliance

I’m pleased to announce that for the second year in a row, Accenture is a Leader in the Everest Group Financial Crime and Compliance Operations – Services PEAK Matrix, 2021.

This annual report measures 23 providers against market impact and vision & capability. In both categories, Everest Group notes Accenture’s strengths, including our robust digital capabilities, to position us in the top-right quadrant (see chart). For me, it’s a reminder of how quickly compliance has evolved to become more digital, dynamic, global—and strategic.

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I’ve thought a lot about what this means for our clients who are tasked with protecting and growing the business in the face of smaller budgets, bigger threats and more regulations. The underlying theme in how Everest Group describes our strengths is by not just explaining what we do, but also the value we bring. We take a fresh approach to transforming compliance operations by introducing a data-driven, digital operating model that helps compliance leaders cost-effectively keep pace with regulatory demand, provide strategic guidance, and drive sustainable growth.

In fact, Everest specifically calls out SynOps, our unique human+machine platform that we use to move clients to an intelligent compliance operating model which provides the data and insights needed to be more predictive versus reactive. The live dashboards and customized reports facilitate better collaboration across functions. And having the right metrics means clients can monitor and act, when and where needed to protect operations and avoid penalties.

Access to data-driven insights means clients have the information needed to decide whether to launch a new product or enter new markets. Imagine what that could mean in the cryptocurrency space. Or for real-time sanction screening. Or for growing revenue.

With evolving regulations, companies have to move beyond temporary fixes. An intelligent operating model digitally reimagines Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) functions and helps clients rethink how work gets done.

For example, we helped a large bank in North America transform its lending practices with better processes, a new quality control framework, and technologies like AI, machine learning and analytics to save $20M, avoid $2B in exposure and boost compliance adherence from 93% to 100%.

By gaining visibility of process gaps and bottlenecks, the bank’s managed services helped address more than 99% of the bank’s compliance-fulfillment backlog. With global, standardized, optimized transparent and compliant operations, valuable resources were freed up to focus on achieving the bank’s strategic objectives for growth and cost reduction.

This example not only illustrates the power of a digital compliance operating model but also our broader scope of capabilities in the fraud and AML space.

Clients often ask me how they should use this report. I tell them that having an objective view of the market like this is invaluable. However, every transformation journey is unique. The key is to identify the priorities for the organization and run everything else you learn through that lens. I’d be happy to answer any of your specific questions. Connect with me via email at robert.j.bradley@accenture.com or on LinkedIn.