Regulatory reporting, risk and data management company AxiomSL’s latest Americas and APAC survey reveals a decline in trust over data accuracy.
The company holds an annual survey of senior-level risk and regulatory executives in the Americas and APAC regions, focused on views on the regulatory landscape.
Results from this year’s report state only 41 per cent of executives within the Americas trust the accuracy of their data. This is a drop of 11 per cent, from the 52 per cent recorded in 2017’s survey.
In line with this, executives across both regions believe improving data quality, data lineage and data aggregation is their primary concern. The survey indicated that these processes formed the biggest regulatory challenges facing businesses over the next three years.
In the Americas, 64 per cent stated they needed to improve these capabilities, while 63 per cent of respondents in APAC also agreed. This was the number one rated problem for American respondents.
AxiomSL CEO and founder Alex Tsigutkin said, “I believe the decline in trust in their data’s accuracy is reflected through the challenges experienced by executives and staff while trying to satisfy regulatory demand for more granular and analytical information.
“Leaders today struggle to cope with the ‘3Vs’ of data challenges: velocity, volume and veracity. Regulators require information at ever-increasing frequencies, and organizations must grapple with huge volumes of diverse data in order to meet requirements and internal objectives.
“This is where veracity ― trust in the accuracy of the data ― becomes a crucial issue. Executives are very aware that the data they are capturing isn’t necessarily correct.”
There was also strong support given to strengthening data governance, with 52 per cent in the Americans and 41 per cent APAC executives naming it as one of their biggest issues. This is an increase across both areas, rising from 30 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively.
Keeping up with all the latest regulations costs a lot of resources and executives have expressed this is another key area for trouble. Around 47 per cent of the respondents in both regions outlined resource allocation was a major challenge.
While the biggest challenge in the Americas was improving data aggregation and governance, in APAC it was keeping up with regulatory change. The concern was expressed by 69 per cent of executives, an increase of 12 per cent from 2017.
Contrary to this, the percentage of people citing this in the Americas fell from 66 per cent to 43 per cent.
Over three-quarters of executives in the Americas claimed to be anxious over upcoming regulations, will just 14 per cent in APAC were worried.
The future and investments
In order to counter all the rising issues with regulations and falling trust in data, both regions seemed keen on increasing their investment in risk and regulatory technology.
Just over half of respondents in the Americas planned to increase spending, while 61 per cent of APAC executives stated plans to raise investments.
When deciding where to put this extra investment, both the Americas and APAC seemed intent on investing more into data analytics, with 87 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively, stating this. The next biggest area was big data mining and analysis.
After these two areas the interest was split. The Americas third biggest response was for AI and machine learning solutions, followed by blockchain technology. However, APAC put more interest in backing cloud computing services.
Tsigutkin said, “Innovation is the key driver that will enable financial institutions to conquer the challenges of the three ‘Vs,’ adapt quickly to regulatory and management changes, and continue moving forward.
“Innovation is enabling faster execution of large datasets, greater data traceability, and flexible data structures. The next step for financial institutions is to create an innovation-friendly environment that maximizes the potential of data professionals’ expertise to enhance insights and respond to new opportunities.”
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
