IT managers have criticised the FSA for setting ‘unrealistic deadlines' in its Policy Statement 04/9.
According to a survey from Aspective, 60% of IT managers said the FSA did not understand the complexity of the compliance task set out in the statement.
Aspective said more than three quarters (78%) of those questioned expressed doubt that the industry could meet its compliance obligations.
“The deadlines that the FSA has laid out in Policy Statement 04/9 are extremely demanding,” said Aspective chief executive Javaid Aziz.
“With the first deadline for data collection due early in 2005, the sooner the financial services sector acts on this issue, the greater the chance of controlling the true cost of meeting this regulation.”
“By acting now organisations have the chance to incorporate regulatory needs within their core business systems and processes to provide long term benefit and avoid deploying expensive, temporary solutions.”
The survey's findings cast doubt on whether IT departments would meet the FSA's deadlines based on their current plans, said the company.
It found that nearly half (46%) admit that they either ‘do not think' or ‘do not know' whether their current IT systems are capable of meeting Policy Statement 04/9's requirements.
In addition 55% of respondents said that making their systems compliant presented either significant difficulty or was impossible, said Aspective.
