In a poll of 300 compliance professionals by Nasdaq and research group Aite, 63%, of respondents at investment banks and brokerage firms expect their compliance and technology budgets to increase in 2017, while 75% of their counterparts at buyside firms expect an increase.

Interestingly enough, 55% of the respondents said that their firms’ compliance budgets had increased by up to 25% or more in the previous 12 months. In 2015, 62% of survey respondents had similar experiences.

Michael O’Brien, the head of product management for Nadsaq’s trade surveillance system Smarts, had these comments:

• Compliance-related spending on the sellside was levelling out as these firms began their “compliance fortification” processes earlier;
• “The days of 15% to 25% growth in spending [in sellside compliance] is not going to be maintained. We've reached a plateau.”
• However, buyside firms, who started later, are still building up their control functions ahead of looming reforms.
• The bulk of the coming year’s budget was expected to be spent on surveillance technology

Other industry figures agree with Mr. O’Brien that the great rise of compliance departments within investment banks is coming to an end.