Hard times

Gloom and uncertainty engulf the economic outlook, while initial post-crisis optimism that financial services compliance departments would finally receive the recognition and resources they deserve, has withered. Instead, Compliance must ‘make do and mend’, grappling to stay abreast of the escalating burden of regulation with static, barely increasing or stopgap temporary headcounts. Senior functionaries are stretched so thin that many intend to leave the profession, and they feel ambivalent about the efficacy of heightened regulation and supervisory restructuring. The annual research conducted by Randstad Financial & Professional (formerly Joslin Rowe) and Compliance Monitor is presented below and surveyed 52 compliance professionals in the City – 70% of whom were heads of compliance, with the remainder senior managers.

For more information about the compliance service at Randstad Financial & Professional (formerly Joslin Rowe) see www.randstad.co.uk.

The signs from our latest survey were discouraging from the outset. When we asked, “Do you believe your department’s current staffing level is adequate to meet UK regulatory requirements,” 80% said, “No,” – a huge increase from last year’s 44% finding and the highest figure we have ever recorded in the last ten years of this survey (the previous high being 60% in 2007).