Accenture launches compliance-as-a-service offering

Management and technology consultancy Accenture has expanded its managed services capabilities with a compliance-as-a-service offering aimed at the financial services industry.

According to Accenture’s 2019 Compliance and Risk Study, regulations are getting tougher and the price of compliance is growing. The firm estimates financial services firms globally will spend 4% of revenues on compliance-related activities, with that figure expected to rise to 10%. Meanwhile, firms incur hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for failing to uncover financial crimes.

Compliance leaders are also increasingly expected to proactively identify new risks, shifting their roles from a reactive orientation to a strategic one.

Accenture believes that its new compliance-as-a-service (CaaS) offering can help financial services firms comply with shifting regulations cost effectively. The end-to-end service uses the SynOps operating engine to combine data, applied intelligence, digital technologies and talent to combat financial crime and ensure compliance.

The advisory and transformation component of the CaaS offering covers regulatory strategy, legal, and technology and security data, as well as compliance, financial crime, and conduct. The managed services portion delivers support in Know Your Customer, with tools to help firms verify client identity and suitability; anti-money laundering, with intensive compliance measures including transaction monitoring and alert management; privacy data management; and contract lifecycle management.

The final CaaS component is regulatory response services, including outreach and campaigns for relevant regulations such as GDPR.

Accenture’s CaaS offering is intended to support the compliance departments of banks, insurers, capital markets, and other organizations.

“Although the cost of compliance continues to rise, compliance budgets remain stagnant,” Bob Bradley, leader of the CaaS offering at Accenture Operations. “By moving compliance-related functions to a flexible operating model, our comprehensive offering will enable clients to manage risk with efficiency and speed, freeing them up to focus on higher value-added opportunities as part of their journey to intelligent operations.”

Steve Culp, head of Accenture’s finance & risk practice, added, “In addition to facing intense cost-pressure, compliance functions must also find talent with the full array of required skills needed to thrive in this new compliance environment, making technology-centered approaches essential. This new offering helps compliance employees enhance their skillsets, improve their productivity, and contend with emerging challenges such as data privacy.”