Compliance-related jobs, once in hot demand, are now slowing down as technology is now robust enough to perform transactional surveillance on behalf of humans.
Banks around the world have been deploying new technology that can replace manual Customer Due Diligence (CDD) checks. Despite the heavy fines slapped onto banks for regulatory breaches, they have now realised that increasing headcount does not mean that these issues will be solved.
Regulatory requirements, especially in the anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) domain, are rules that can be easily translated to criteria for a computer to interpret easily. Depending on the financial institution risk appetite, thresholds and criteria can be converted into numerical values making it easier for both the computer and the financial institution to better manage their resources.
High Compliance Costs
It is reported repeatedly that compliance costs have been rising increasingly in tandem with regulatory requirements. Technology not only helps to save financial institutions more money on resources but helps ensures that suspicious activity or breaches are highlighted without fail or predicted before it happens.
AML Compliance staff performing operational work, such as CDD, name screening, and the manual detection suspicious of trends will not be in demand in the future. Advisory, investigation and internal policies roles will continue to be critical and will no doubt be assisted with some form of technology support.
For the actual reporting by Bloomberg, read here.
