Financial services firms are pouring more money into compliance, yet the sprawl of technology they rely on may be undermining the very risk visibility that spending is meant to deliver. That is the central warning from new research released by MCO (MyComplianceOffice), the integrated compliance technology provider.
The study, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of MCO, surveyed 370 senior compliance professionals across the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. It explores the priorities, pressures and technology trends shaping compliance in financial services, along with how leaders expect these to shift over the coming 12 months.
MCO positions the findings as a benchmark for firms weighing whether their compliance operating models can keep pace with mounting demands and a more strategic role within the business.
The most striking figure from the MCO research is the scale of technology fragmentation. Organisations are running an average of 13.8 separate compliance systems, a level of complexity that can make it difficult to build a joined-up view of risk across the firm.
Despite this, appetite for investment remains strong. According to MCO, 93% of respondents expect their compliance budgets to increase, while 89% anticipate greater spending on compliance technology specifically.
The survey also exposes a notable readiness gap in digital assets. While 96% of respondents say managing digital asset compliance is important, only 64% have a formal process in place to govern employee personal trading in digital assets.
Beyond these headline findings, the full MCO report examines how leaders expect the chief compliance officer role to evolve, how firms are approaching AI, and where they intend to direct additional resources.
MCO chief marketing officer Paul Giardina said, “Firms are not short on ambition or investment. The priority now is ensuring that capabilities connect across the compliance program so leaders can see risk clearly, act on reliable information and support the business more strategically.
“MyComplianceOffice helps firms do that by bringing compliance processes, data and evidence together across employees, transactions and third parties, reducing the need to manage compliance across multiple systems. MCO’s single-platform approach helps compliance teams operate more efficiently, strengthen risk visibility and oversight, and demonstrate compliance across the firm.”
The research was conducted online among compliance professionals in the US, Europe (UK, Germany and Switzerland) and APAC (Australia and Singapore). Participants held at least a director title within governance, risk and compliance departments at financial services firms with 500 or more employees. The data is accurate to within 5.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
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