The paper, produced in association with Fenergo, illustrates banks’ perception of the regulatory landscape and the role of regulatory CLM (client lifecycle management) and is based on a survey of 102 professionals from 73 financial institutions, including corporate, commercial, investment, private and retail, across 20 countries.

Budget and resourcing represent the highest challenge in terms of compliance, with 73% expressing this as very or extremely challenging. Technology implementation is also of major concern and held the highest percentage of “extremely challenging” responses in the compliance category, at 35%.

The paper explores a potential positive correlation between apprehension over budget limitations and the size of the technology implementation challenge that banks believe they face.

Fear and current lack of confidence in dealing with compliance, however, could be the very drivers for success in meeting upcoming regulatory deadlines. North Americans are more panicked by the prospect of a regulator visit than Europeans (29% versus 12%), and rank themselves lower for client data tracking (21% versus Europeans’ 33%) and correspondence tracking (7% versus 20%), yet express higher confidence in being able to turn the situation around in time to meet impending deadlines (79% versus Europeans’ 71%).

Which regulations are causing the biggest headaches? The 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) comes out top of the concerns, with 86% of contributors ticking challenging, very challenging or extremely challenging, and the only regulation to receive a sum total of zero “not at all challenging” responses. This is followed closely by MiFID II and thereafter by CRS/AEOI.

Interestingly, the paper brings to light some differences between North America and Europe and that financial institutions in the US and Canada are just as concerned by incoming European regulation, if not more so, as European institutions. Thirty per cent of European respondents consider 4AMLD extremely or very challenging, compared with 52% of North American respondents.

Overall, respondents are not confident in their ability to be compliant with the regulatory impositions they face in the time allowed. Why? Poor visibility and tracking capabilities, for the most part, as the paper reveals. A sizeable 70% concede they face a big challenge in “repeatedly requesting client data and documentation”. Almost one third (27%) of respondents totally disagreed that their technology enabled them to manage regulatory compliance on a single platform.

The paper also delves into the different approaches banks are taking to tackle the issue of compliance and technical implementation, from centralised CLM solutions and regtech to bank-wide oversight and participation in industry standards efforts.

To find out more, download the paper here.