by. Michael Muckian

The best thing that regulators can do for financial institutions, short of issuing fewer regulations, is to make the regs simpler and compliance methodologies clearer, say respondents to a recent survey from Minneapolis-based global consulting firm Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

According to the firm’s November Regulatory & Risk Management Indicator, banks and credit unions want more guidance from regulators and have grown more concerned with their own ability to manage compliance obligations and risk. Nearly 80% of respondents showed significant concerns about staying abreast of regulatory change and complying with regulator demands, compared to slightly more than 60% of respondents showing similar concern levels when the company surveyed 400-plus financial institutions in January.

In addition, the percentage of respondents showing a significant concern with their ability to manage risk across their organization rose from over 50% in January to more than 60% in the current Indicator.

The combined RESPA/TILA disclosure rule continued to top institutions concerns with the Dodd-Frank Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at nearly 70%. Requirements for qualified mortgages at 66% and qualified residential mortgages at 64% were not far behind. Regulatory risk remained the top risk management concern at 64% along with asset and liability management at 40% in second place.

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