When Thomson Reuters launched its first Cost of Compliance survey in 2010 the world was still in the grip of the financial crisis. No one outside of compliance fully appreciated the value it could bring to a business. A lot has changed in the intervening years. Once-mighty global banks toppled by the financial crisis; record fines alongside new regulatory approaches and countless new rules intended to shore up the industry post-crisis. Amidst all the change, risk and compliance have risen to become prominent stakeholders within firms.

Throughout these sometimes-seismic changes, the popularity of Thomson Reuters’ annual Cost of Compliance survey has grown year on year. Now in its tenth year, the survey remains the trusted voice for risk and compliance practitioners around the world.

Since Thomson Reuters launched its first Cost of Compliance survey, over 5,000 compliance and risk practitioners around the globe have completed the survey. The report has also been read by over 40,000 entities including financial services firms, G-SIFIs, regulators, law firms, governments and consultancies. The unparalleled insight into the frank concerns and issues shared by practitioners has given a wealth of information into the reality and challenges faced across all industry sectors over the past 10 years.

This year’s survey promises to be just as candid and insightful as in previous years. Last year compliance practitioners identified managing and coping with continued regulatory change as their biggest challenge, specifically data privacy and the global ramifications of the implementation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  

The greatest compliance challenges compliance practitioners expected to face in 2018

Personal liability continued to be a key concern for compliance professionals with over half expecting it to increase in 2018. This is likely to remain a key concern into 2019 with the implementation of individual accountability regimes around the world together with the unrelenting focus on regulatory risk.

And what of technology? It continues to have a major impact on compliance but remains a double-edged sword. The expected benefits of new technology are driving an increase in the compliance function’s involvement in evaluating solutions, but at the same time, compliance is increasingly aware of the heightened regulatory risks associated with cyber resilience, data privacy and legacy IT infrastructure.  

Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence is excited to announce that its 2019 survey is now open. Please don’t miss your opportunity to take part in this year’s survey.