1 in 2 Singapore banks forced to boost budget to manage regulatory change

Here's how they allocate the budget.

According to the Robert Half Financial Services Global Report: Navigating Change in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape report, the explosion in new regulations is hitting Singapore banks and financial services companies hard, with one in two (49 per cent) being forced to increase their budget for managing regulatory change.

The budget increases are substantial with one in five Singapore companies (22 per cent) increasing their 2013 expenditure on compliance by more than 20 per cent compared to 2012, while the rest (78 per cent) expect budget increases of between one and 20 per cent.

According to Ms Stella Tang, Director of Robert Half Singapore, the increased budget is being spent on bolstering the strength of the compliance team, training existing staff and implementing policies.

"Our research shows that the new regulations are definitely a cost to banks and financial services companies. Banks and financial services companies need to spend money to keep ahead of the growth in new regulations.

This means hiring people with the right skills and more training and refresher courses for existing staff. Professionals with regulatory compliance experience are in hot demand right now," Ms Tang said.

According to the survey, increased cost is not the only problem banks and financial institutions face when trying to manage regulatory change. Managing external auditors is the biggest concern (34 percent), while hiring staff with the right experience is also a challenge (23 per cent).

When asked which department is taking the lead on managing regulatory change, 27 per cent of Singapore companies said finance, while compliance and technology were both named by 15 per cent of companies.