Political uncertainty over issues like Brexit and the UK general election has delayed the regulatory compliance process for a quarter of financial services firms, according to research.
Just a third of financial services organisations were prepared for regulations like the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
More than half of respondents to a the survey by DST, a technology and outsourcing company, said regulatory scrutiny had increased in the last year.
DST surveyed 100 financial services professionals and found that nearly half had increased the number of compliance professionals in their firms in the last five years, with 41% expecting an increase again this year.
Over a third of those surveyed were not confident they had the necessary technology to comply with regulations such as MiFID II and GDPR.
Almost a quarter of respondents said their biggest worry was the rise in personal responsibility. This was followed by worries about being behind schedule for compliance, a lack of understanding of the regulator’s requirements, or lack of compliance skills.
Ian Betley, vice president at DST said: “There still exists a real challenge with financial services companies embracing regulatory compliance and it is worrying that the political uncertainty has hampered firms’ ability to press on with preparing for key regulations.”
©2017 funds europe
