A new culture of compliance in the finance sector

Senior compliance managers from the UK and the US were asked about any changes in attitude to compliance since the financial crisis and 70 per cent said that compliance had come out of the background and was now influencing business decisions. 87 per cent said that they now had the resources to create a culture of compliance in their organisation.

Carried out by Complinet, a provider of compliance and regulation information, the survey also revealed that 88 per cent of respondents believed they now ‘had the ear of senior management’ and 63 per cent felt compliance issues had become more essential in their organisation.

Experts at Complinet argue that the results show a real change in attitude within the sector and that Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), was focusing on the wrong thing when he warned about ‘business as usual’ with banks beginning to award large bonuses again.

Chris Pilling, CEO of Complinet, said: ‘The real challenge is not worrying about levels of executive pay. What the industry has to work out is how its institutions connect executive behaviour to what they earn – not just what they can add to the bottom line.

‘In order to break the cycle that has led to the recession, financial institutions need to reward correct behaviour in executives. Their bonuses and salaries should be linked to the products they sell and the goals they achieve, providing these products are compliant.’

Complinet’s comments came as the FSA published a new a consultation paper detailing the enhanced standards people can expect from investment advisers.