Legacy tech could hamper financial crime prevention: survey

A newly released LexisNexis financial crime survey reveals 92% of senior financial crime professionals are concerned that legacy technology could become a barrier to fighting financial crime in the next one to two years.

The survey of 168 financial crime professionals working in the UK banking industry has revealed mixed sentiments about the current state of financial crime compliance.

Out of a range of challenges, geopolitical uncertainty and evolving criminal methodologies like cybercrime were cited by survey respondents as the biggest risks firms will need to face in the next year. The inhibitive impact legacy technology systems are having on firms’ efforts to effectively respond to underlying financial crime risks was also a major concern among respondents.

Commenting on the findings, Dean Curtis, UK Managing Director at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, stated:

“Criminal methodologies are constantly evolving and financial institutions are struggling to keep up with their changing tactics when implementing financial crime defenses. For those tasked with combatting financial crime, it can feel as if they are fighting twenty-first century criminals with twentieth-century tools. Our report shows financial crime professionals do not believe the industry is doing enough to leverage the advantages of technology to fight financial crime.”

LexisNexis financial crime survey highlights

• 92% of survey respondents remain concerned their organization’s legacy technology will become a barrier to fighting financial crime in the near future.
• 87% of survey respondents identified disparate technology systems that lacked the capacity to process data properly as a significant challenge.
• 87% of survey respondents said their business remains unable to enhance their technology fast enough to counter evolving criminal methods.
• 37% of respondents in the retail banking arena and 34% of investment bankers believe geopolitical change to be the biggest single future financial crime risk.
• 30% of respondents believe Brexit will have a positive impact, while 14% say it will have an adverse impact on the ability of UK financial institutions to fight financial crime.
• 60% of respondents cited investment in new technologies for evolving and increased regulations as the leading cause of cost increases.

More here [finextra]

This article was originally published on TheFintechBuzz