April 18, 2012 - Almost seven out of 10 North American capital markets executives believe a significant portion of their firms' resources will be consumed by regulatory burdens and data latency issues, according to a Sybase survey.

The SAP unit quizzed 50 North American senior managers and C-suite risk management professionals, 72 from Emea and 63 from Asia Pacific for its survey.

A similar picture applies across the globe: in Emea, 41% of respondents cite regulatory burdens, 31% data latency and 27% front-middle-back office integration.

Executives in Apac however, believe that front-middle-back office integration is the number one challenge (45%), while 30% cite data latency and 25% regulatory burden.

With regard to the reliability of stress testing, a combined 96% of North American respondents were only "somewhat confident" or "not at all confident" that it has addressed all the important risks to the banking system. In Emea the percentage is 93% and in Apac, 86%.

When asked about the preferred frequency of stress testing, nearly half of North American respondents believe stress testing should be conducted at least once every six months, compared to 42% who say once a year. The majority of Emea and Apac respondents - 68% and 60% respectively - prefer more frequent stress tests, at least once every six months.

Meanwhile, around two thirds of North American respondents say they do not face challenges in capturing rapid data growth, but it's a very different picture in Emea, where three quarters say the opposite. Apac respondents, on the other hand, were split almost evenly over their struggle.

The survey also pinpoints concerns related to Basel III and its impact on banks' profitability. A combined 90% of North American, 90% of Apac, and 96% of Emea, respondents believe Basel III regulations will have "moderate" to "significant" impact on profitability.

Neil McGovern, senior director, financial services marketing, Sybase, says: "Real-time risk management strategies are key to ensuring effective regulatory compliance, including the proposed capital adequacy requirements in Basel III. There is now a confluence of regulatory and business reasons for capital markets firms to upgrade their risk architecture."