Global compliance advisory group expands into Birmingham
ACA Compliance Group, a global provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions, is expanding its European presence with the opening of an office in Birmingham.
ACA will offer a full suite of services designed to strengthen and streamline financial services firms’ governance, risk and compliance arrangements.
Key to the services offered from this new office will be ACA’s Analysis and Review Centre (ARC).
The ARC helps to reduce the workload of chief compliance officers (CCOs) and in-house compliance teams by allowing them to pass on executional regulatory responsibilities to ACA.
According to the 2019 Thomson Reuters Cost of Compliance report, the number of firms that outsource all or part of their compliance function has remained consistent, ranging between 24% and 28%, year-on-year since 2016. Over a third (36%) of global financial services firms now outsource all or part of their compliance function. Of the firms surveyed, 53% said they chose to outsource any or all of their compliance functionality for additional assurance on compliance processes, while 48% cited a lack of in-house compliance skills as the reason for outsourcing.
Philip Naughton, partner, ACA Compliance Group, said: “Heightened levels of global regulation combined with increasing scrutiny and cost pressures place CCOs and compliance teams under mounting pressure. Where firms do not want to bring in additional internal resources, they can turn to our Analysis and Review Centre and tap into a pool of highly skilled compliance professionals. This flexible resource can be scaled to meet the needs of clients, involves little to no ramp-up or training and reduces key person risk and hiring processes.”
David Fisken, head of business attraction at the West Midlands Growth Company, added: “ACA Compliance Group’s expansion into Birmingham is testament to the growing strength and prominence of the region’s business, professional and financial services sector.
“The region has earned itself a reputation for its high value business environment thanks to an abundant pool of highly skilled talent and rapid growth in the number of global firms consolidating operations here. As an international, market leading brand, we look forward to welcoming ACA Compliance Group to this roster, as a fantastic success story of the region.”
