Delphix, the data virtualisation company, has conducted a survey that indicates that the European Union's Anti-Money Laundering Directive, its Market Abuse Directive and its 'Privacy Shield' agreement with the United States are the three biggest sources of regulatory pressure for financial firms in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The study looked at the regulations that firms found the most difficult to comply with from a data and reporting perspective. Delphix found that organisations are worryingly behind in developing the software they need to meet evolving reporting demands.

More than half (59% to be exact) of respondents cited ‘delivery’ as their greatest problem from day to day, with more than one-third (38%) claiming that their onerous workloads were hindering their capacity to meet their data and reporting objectives. One in five claimed that they were forced to use data that was not fully anonymised and were taking more and more risks with sensitive data.

These problems are prompting firms to worry about their compliance with financial regulations. More than half of respondents (53%) fear large financial penalties and almost the same number are worried about losing customers (51%). Fear of losing banking licenses is ranked as the 'number one concern' by nearly one in five respondents (19%), with brand damage and the risk of a prison sentence worrying 13%.

Iain Chidgey, an executive at Delphix, believes that the task of copying and moving ever-increasing amounts of data for regulatory reporting purposes is becoming riskier and more difficult. He told Compliance Matters: "Data that is caught in business silos and refreshed at different times quickly becomes stale and of little use for reporting purposes, severely impacting data quality and the ability of teams to comply with the growing regulatory burden.

"Due to the time and cost it takes to mask data, banks copy and move data to testing environments or reporting applications without being protected and 18% of respondents admit that data loss as a result of poor data security is a daily challenge. Inefficient data delivery processes are driving concerns about upcoming regulations. Respondents cited regulations that require proof of data integrity and personal information as their biggest future challenges, with 62% naming the EU Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems and 54% the EU General Data Protection Regulation."