Steve McGraw CEO SAI Global Compliance

SAI Global Compliance, a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) products, services and technology, including the Compliance 360 software suite, announced the findings of its 2013 Financial Services Industry Compliance Benchmark Study. As a result of the growing number of new and updated regulations emerging over the past year, firms cited regulatory compliance, mitigating new risks created by Dodd-Frank and demonstrating compliance effectiveness as their top priorities in 2013.

“Fortunately, these increased investments seem to be paying off in the form of measured and validated improvements. As the Dodd-Frank implementation continues, we anticipate that most firms will continue to take the steps necessary to mitigate the growing compliance risks.”

An overwhelming 93 percent of respondents noted compliance with federal regulations as a high priority in 2013. While the ability to demonstrate compliance effectiveness also remained one of the top three priorities this year, a new concern moved into the top three: the increased risks created by Dodd-Frank. Eighty-three percent of participants named Dodd-Frank risks as one of their highest compliance program priorities, a sign that the legislation’s impact on firms continues to grow.

In line with the increasing impact of the Dodd-Frank legislation, the commitment of resources needed to address compliance requirements is also expanding for many financial services firms. Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents indicated that their compliance program budgets are increasing in 2013, with more than 20 percent noting a significant increase. Only 10 percent indicated that their budgets would decrease this year.

Survey results also indicated that increasing focus and resource commitments are driving improved results for compliance programs. In the 2012 survey, only 55 percent of respondents indicated that the effectiveness of their compliance programs had been validated using internal or external audits. This statistic improved to 73 percent in the 2013 survey.

“As individual regulations continue to roll out from the implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislation, financial services firms are stepping-up their game in terms of compliance and risk management,” said Steve McGraw, GRC President, SAI Global Compliance. “Fortunately, these increased investments seem to be paying off in the form of measured and validated improvements. As the Dodd-Frank implementation continues, we anticipate that most firms will continue to take the steps necessary to mitigate the growing compliance risks.”

The original Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) software solutions born in the cloud, Compliance 360 brings order and efficiency to the complexity of enterprise governance, risk management, compliance and audit management. The Compliance 360 GRC Software Suite includes regulatory compliance software, policy management software, internal audit software, incident management software, ERM software and a wide variety of specialty applications. More than 250,000 professionals every day in financial services, insurance, healthcare, distribution and other regulated industries rely on Compliance 360 applications to help protect their revenues, reputations and brands.

SAI Global Compliance provides organizations with a wide range of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) products, solutions and services that help build organizational integrity and meet overall business objectives. With more than twenty-five years experience and offices in more than 25 countries, SAI Global’s solutions include a wide range of GRC products and services including the Compliance 360 GRC Software Suite, best practice Code of Conduct program services and training, compliance and ethics training and awareness, risk and culture assessments, a full range of advisory services, whistleblowing hotline services, regulatory knowledge, policy management, case management, and third party compliance management including automated assessments and workflow.