More than 25 per cent of Canadian financial services providers are either “not very” or “not at all” prepared for upcoming regulatory changes, according to a recent survey conducted by Randstad Canada in conjunction with Ipsos Reid.

The study polled 300 professionals in Canada’s financial services sector working in operations, management, risk management, governance, and regulatory affairs.

The findings highlight that while the majority of those polled felt that their organizations are reasonably prepared to implement these reforms, there remains a significant number of professionals working in the financial services industry who feel their organizations are not yet well prepared for upcoming changes to regulation.

Furthermore, one-in-four (23 per cent) were unsure of the ability of their leadership teams at driving or effectively communicating strategies and programs to ensure compliance with tighter regulatory parameters throughout the organization.

“Changes are coming, and in some cases quickly,” says Jean-Francois Vézina, vice president, Randstad Professionals.

“The tightening of existing regulations such as Dodd-Frank, Basel III, ORSA, and FATCA will have profound effects on the financial services sector. Organizations will need to adapt to evolving demands under new, and in some cases more intense, regulatory scrutiny, and communicate effectively at all levels to sucessfully implement the necessary processes.”

Throughout the financial services sector, opinions vary on how these new measures will impact business results. Of the respondents polled, 30 per cent of those familiar with the upcoming changes felt that new measures being put in place will have a positive impact on the business results of their organization, while one-in-five (21 per cent) felt they will have no impact. A further 22 per cent responded that they were unsure of how these new measures will impact their business results.

More than one-quarter (27 per cent) felt that new regulations planned to be put in place will actually have a negative impact on their business results, showing concerns that, upon implementation, new measures will impede their ability to operate in the same capacity — and achieve the same success as at present.

As for the impact on HR and talent management, of those polled, only one-in-four respondents (26 per cent) felt that the human resources function of their organization stood to face significant impact from these new demands.

“Regulatory reforms will almost assuredly result in new jobs across organizations, especially risk management roles that will be in high demand. Financial service providers will need to ensure that their current and future staff has the skillsets and the capabilities to ensure compliance with the revised regulations,” says Vezina.