Industry confused by compliance: survey
Compliance practices in the financial services industry are usually reactive, and only vaguely regarded as a business benefit, according to a survey of executives from 73 companies across 17 countries including Australia.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, Protecting the brand - the evolving role of the compliance function, found the executives recognised that sound compliance could be a competitive advantage in a society which now expected integrity as well as competence from its financial service providers.
However, most complained it was difficult to take ownership of compliance controls, and there was confusion as to whether the compliance function should be a “policeman, counsellor, independent observer or a combination of them all”, the survey reported.
In a result that would be familiar to Australian practitioners, the executives named the biggest obstacle to effective compliance as the “sheer complexity of regulation” (mentioned by 64 per cent of respondents), followed by “inadequate technological infrastructure for monitoring compliance” (36 per cent), “changing expectations of stakeholders” (33 per cent) and “incomplete acceptance/understanding by the board/senior management of their compliance responsibilities” (31 per cent).
Recommended for you
With Fortnum Private Wealth and Professional Financial Services now unified under the Entireti umbrella company, CEO Neil Younger has detailed to Money Management the firm’s new direction and future expansion.
The FAAA has suggested looking offshore for overseas financial advisers to ease the adviser shortage, but are employers willing to take on the burden of workplace visas?
There may be a huge influx of alternatives coming to the market, but timing and access difficulties mean advisers can easily end up disappointed with their selection, according to Morningstar global CIO Dan Kemp.
An NSW individual has pleaded guilty to one criminal charge of providing unlicensed financial services after promoting crypto investments at national seminars.