A recent survey of +80 Senior Risk and Compliance executives, conducted by regtech firm Aveni, has highlighted a changing and more strategic role required from Chief Risk Officers (CRO) at board level, triggered by tightening regulatory control imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty legislation.
The FCA’s aggressive timelines and persistent emphasis on more stringent, data-driven supervision has had organisations scrambling to ensure timely compliance. CROs and Senior Risk and Compliance executives have had a tough job of overseeing activities to meet such far-reaching, comprehensive regulations that call for a complete change in everything from operational processes all the way through to culture. The survey findings show that few CROs (35%) are very clear about what must change within their organisation to meet new requirements.
A key part of Consumer Duty emphasises accountability of Senior Executives and Board members to ensure good consumer outcomes. The FCA even goes so far as to say it will not hesitate to push for fines or, in severe cases, jail time for firms not sticking to the rules. Despite this, the survey found 67% of CROs said very little (<20%) of board or executive committee time is spent talking about consumer outcomes. 59% say not a lot (<50%) of what customers say is used in business decision-making.
Results show CRO’s are perfectly placed to lead and implement a data-driven strategy within their organisations that will not only enable the board and other executive committees to get closer to customers, their needs and outcomes, but to go a step further. To have what their customers say, drive tangible improvements across the organisation. From product and service development and customer experience to agent performance and the effective identification and handling of customers in vulnerable situations.
And it seems CROs are primed to step up to the challenge. Many are considering innovative strategies around implementing technology to monitor customer data (77%) and automating the Quality Assurance (QA) process (70%). Significantly less are considering hiring more QA staff and customer service representatives (41%).
What is clear is that those holding senior risk roles, if not already, will quickly become pivotal at board-level strategic discussions as Consumer Duty gathers pace. With so many compliance aspects to consider, see how your Consumer Duty plans stack up by downloading the full report.
Nicola Wee has over 16 years’ experience working within the tech industry for both start-up and Fortune 500 companies. She started Almanac Marketing, an Edinburgh-based consultancy specialising in marketing support, strategy and advice to a broad range of small and start-up businesses. She is currently CMO of Aveni, an ambitious fintech on a mission to ensure all companies listen and that every customer is heard.