Compliance a costly pasttime, survey reveals

Staying in line with compliance issues is hitting UK firms hard in the pocket, research commissioned by CA has revealed.

The study, which surveyed about 575 IT directors from large and mid-sized firms in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Central/South America, was carried out by independent research firm GMG Insights on behalf of the software vendor.

According to the figures, nearly 45 per cent of the companies surveyed reported an increase in the time and monetary resources required to ensure compliance with 13 regulations and industry standards found in countries around the world.

But Europe is lagging behind the US when it comes to compliance, the report stated, with 46 per cent of European companies admitting to not being compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley, compared to 11 per cent in North America. Similarly for Basel II, 36 per cent of European respondents admitted to not being compliant compared to 17 per cent in the US.

But despite the growing burden, costs and complexity of regulatory compliance, efforts to comply are still being carried out manually. In Europe 40 per cent of companies reported the introduction of new regulations as a reason for increasing the time and monetary resources dedicated to compliance.

Chris Miller, area manager UK and Ireland at CA, said: “This survey highlights continued compliance issues for businesses around the world. The lower levels of compliance in Europe are of particular concern as it could affect global business as time passes.

“As the trend towards regulatory compliance continues to grow in the UK & Ireland and globally, it is time for businesses to carefully examine their existing compliance management strategies,” he said. “With some European countries having to comply with more than 20 regulations, it is time to start automating processes that support proof-of-compliance and streamline those efforts for more comprehensive compliance management. Organisations are subject to significant business and cost risks when they adopt an ad-hoc approach to compliance.”