Pressure yields clarity: 2019 Compliance Risk Study
March 25, 2019
March 25, 2019
The business’s compliance need is growing while its compliance budget is under pressure to shrink: This is the circumstance described by chief compliance officers surveyed for Accenture’s 2019 Compliance Risk Study. Seventy-one percent face cost reduction targets. Yet more than one in three (35 percent) say business growth is the most important driver of transformation in the compliance function. Talent concerns, such as higher-than-expected unmanaged employee attrition, add a third dimension to the challenge.
How can the compliance function lower costs, retain talent and keep pace with fast-changing demands?
The 2019 Compliance Risk Study—based on a survey of 151 senior compliance officers at banking, capital markets and insurance institutions globally—calls for a new generation of compliance executives to lead functions fit for the information age.
These competing pressures suggest a cautious approach to risk and compliance management can no longer cut it. Compliance leaders should push to become agile business partners, able to identify new risks and guide the business through today’s state of permanent disruption.
The compliance risk study’s findings illustrate the challenge facing compliance officers. They need to revamp the function to fit a new business model, while facing cost cutting and resource pressures.
84%
Most 2019 Compliance Risk Study respondents say they have a technology compliance officer within their compliance function.
72%
Nearly 3 in 4 respondents with quantitative cost reduction goals are targeting reductions of more than 10% over three years.
50%
Half of respondents say they face a level of unmanaged employee attrition that is above expectation.
60%
Well over half of respondents agree that responsibilities previously performed by compliance in the second line of defense are now shifting to the first line.
To drive the compliance function forward, chief compliance officers may want to consider the following actions:
To tackle these steps—and start the journey toward Compliance 2.0—the function can begin by focusing on:
With compliance facing cost reduction targets, driving substantial change can be challenging. But it is essential for compliance to be decisive in its leadership, bold in its thinking and transform the function into one that is fit for the information age.
About the Authors