Preparing for compliance in the digital age — especially in the financial services sector — is not for the faint of heart. The rapid changes and tech-heavy investments are making it difficult to determine which direction to focus your attention, especially as financial organizations attempt to regain consumer trust in the wake of significant cybersecurity breaches. According to Information Age, data breaches have risen nearly 500% in the financial sector, which is not surprising considering these companies are an extremely lucrative target for hackers. Other studies note that the breach rate for banks alone has tripled over the past five years, causing a ripple effect of poor consumer trust with financial services organizations. With all of these issues nipping at their heels, financial firms are still faced with yet another major challenge: the changing compliance and regulatory landscape.
Budget Cuts in Compliance Departments
Even while compliance is continually evolving, many organizations are seeing budget cuts in their compliance and security departments. This can cause significantly more pressure on technology-led compliance efforts, as financial services organizations attempt to scale their activities and reduce one-off costs. This comes at a time when there is rapid change throughout the compliance landscape, causing a mismatch between internal skills and the ability to execute compliance strategies. While technology tools are often available to help support the work of internal compliance analysts, there may still be space for highly trained individuals to help interpret the signals being delivered by advanced compliance technology tools. Between the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it can be challenging to ensure that you are fully compliant with the diverse requirements of these regulatory bodies.
Automation and Compliance
Customer needs are rapidly changing, and with that comes additional burdens on overworked compliance departments. Customers have an expectation that even the chatbots they are talking to will have secure and convenient access to their financial information, a requirement that makes it more difficult than ever for IT teams to maintain data security. As financial services organizations accelerate the launch of new products and services, compliance teams struggle to keep pace with the speed of change and could potentially stumble without adequate support.
Difficulty Retaining Compliance Personnel Pushes Automation Options
With the tight squeeze around budgets, compliance personnel are leaving the financial sector in droves and seeking more lucrative opportunities for growth and advancement. Financial services organizations are finding that they need a different skillset for their compliance personnel today than a few years ago, with the need for deeper technical knowledge driving the shift. The ongoing efforts toward cost reduction and the volatility of the regulatory market in recent years have all contributed to growing frustration within the ranks of compliance personnel.
Protecting your organization from the dangers associated with cybercrime is a prime objective for the professionals at Coretelligent. We work closely with organizations in the financial services sector to ensure you are fully meeting complex, evolving regulatory requirements at all times. We help ensure that you are fully compliant with SOX, FINRA and SEC while also protecting your business systems and customer data in transit and at rest. Our unmatched White Glove service is one of the key reasons we have an exceptional client retention rate. Contact us today by calling 855-841-5888 or via email to info@coretelligent.com to schedule your free initial consultation or to learn more about our cybersecurity offerings for the financial services sector.
