Respondents surveyed by financial services executive recruitment firm Robert Half said that the amount of time spent on managing regulatory change has grown considerably, with 59 per cent of FS chief operating (COO) and financial officers (CFO) saying that they spend either “more” or “significantly more” time each week on regulatory matters than they did three years ago.

However, senior FS executives are also facing the challenge of managing this barrage of regulatory change without strong support from their teams. Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of CFOs and COOs say that their teams are not very, or not at all, knowledgeable about changes to the regulatory landscape.

Furthermore, the research found that UK departments are less knowledgeable than some of their global counterparts: 89 per cent of CFOs and COOs in Hong Kong say that their teams are “somewhat” or “very” knowledgeable followed by 82 per cent of peers in Germany and 70 per cent in Singapore.

Neil Owen, global practice director at Robert Half Financial Services, said: “Senior financial services professionals face a real dilemma: they have no choice but to manage the huge workload that regulatory change represents, but also find that their teams lack the necessary knowledge to keep their companies on top of it all.”

“This is having a severe impact on their own workload because a whole day every week is being devoted to regulatory compliance – a huge chunk of their time. It’s not surprising that we are seeing such a big demand for interim and permanent FS staff with proven regulatory compliance and management skills who can help move projects forward.”