Fidelity National Information Services, or FIS as it is known on the New York stock exchange (NYSE), is an American-based Fortune 500 company offering a range of financial products and services with a global workforce of over 55,000 people. FIS itself has a permanent work from home workforce and shifted to work from anywhere since March 2020.
The FIS Readiness Report 2021 has now been released in Australia and highlights risk challenges for capital market firms in Australia while regulators are shifting their attention to areas such as surveillance and fraud. Firms are renewing their focus on growth but recognise deeper investments in regulatory risk and risk management are mission-critical.
Key findings from the report include:
- Logistical and security issues related to remote working were identified to be one of the biggest (37%) operational and technology challenges for Australian capital market firms, alongside new demands on risk management (32%) and cybercrime and fraud risks (30%).
- 43% of Australian firms plan to strengthen their risk defences with investment in solutions, ahead of the global average of 37%.
- 63% of firms will focus their regulatory and compliance investment on enhancing risk-management capabilities. Buy-side firms demonstrated the greatest appetite, with 70% planning to invest in risk management over the next 12 months.
- 55% of Australian capital market firms are looking to their technology vendors to strengthen their risk management capabilities, ahead of the global average of 39%.
- The number one priority for artificial intelligence investments in financial and regulatory technology is to strengthen compliance and risk management.
“COVID-19 has brought about a big shift in future of work trends. With vaccination roll-outs underway, inevitably some percentage of the workforce will return to the office, however many will likely remain at home. Changes in working culture are expected to be permanent, and this has many repercussions on capital market firms in Australia. The rise of a remote workplace is shining a spotlight on logistical and security challenges, as indicated by 37% of firms surveyed in our Readiness research. Intensifying cyber and fraud risks and new demands on risk management are also presenting some of the biggest short-term operational and technology challenges for firms,” said Ashish Rai, group managing director, APAC and MEA Capital Markets, FIS.
"The good news is that Australian firms are starting to take action to respond to the changing risk landscape. A significant 43% of firms view investments in RegTech solutions to strengthen cyber and fraud risk defences as a competitive advantage, ahead of the global average of 37%. We are witnessing a surge in demand for robust RegTech and surveillance tools across operations. As risk management takes centre stage, Australian capital market firms are acting fast to answer the call and up their investments in their risk capabilities to cement their position as global leaders,” he said.
You can read the report here, including commentary from FIS executives and interactive quizzes, tip sheets, eBooks and other resources.
