More rules but no more help is compliance execs' prediction.

There will be more government rules to contend with over the next two years, but compliance officers don't expect their resources to keep pace, according to a recent survey.

Compliance International, a Pine Brook, N.J.-based software company surveyed 120 bank and securities firm compliance officers. Almost all -- 98% -- predicted that the volume of regulations will increase.

But many respondents said their budgets and staffing won't keep up with the changes. While 54% said they expect their resources to increase somewhat, only 7% expect a significant increase. And 39% reported their budgets will remain the same.

Bigger training budgets will allow just one-fifth of the compliance officer respondents to handle regulatory changes.

In the past two years, senior management's attention to compliance has increased, 72% of the respondents said.

Reasons for the change included the regulatory climate and increased litigation awareness, the survey said.

High-profile lawsuits involving senior managers in the past year probably added to the scrutiny, Compliance International said.

Right now, 37% of the respondents said they are the only professional working on compliance at their company.

Another 27% have two people, and 14% have a three-person staff.

Regardless, 76% of the respondents believe compliance information is communicated effectively within their business.

Looking ahead, 56% of the compliance officers said they thought their ability to do their job will be the same in two years.

One-third said they'd be able to do a better job. Only 10% of the respondents said they expected their performance to be worse.

Automation and computer upgrades will be the key to improvement, said 44% of respondents, who predicted they'd do a better job.

Eighty-five percent of all the officers said they work with a personal computer on a regular basis.

Banks have different schedules for updating compliance procedures, the survey found.

While 48% update their inhouse manual on a semiannual basis, 15% make changes monthly.

Surprisingly, regulators got good marks with the respondents.

Almost two-thirds said regulators do a good job of keeping bankers up-to-date on compliance issues, and another 10% said regulators do an excellent job.

But 63% of the compliance officers said regardless of regulators' help, the rules themselves are excessive.

The Cost of Compliance

Annual spending on compliance materials and services. Results of a survey of compliance officersMore than $50,000 7%$11,000 - $50,000 10%$5,000 - $10,000 25%$3,000 - $4,000 24%$2,000 12%$1,000 16%Less than $1,000 6%

Source: Compliance Intemational

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