With less than a week to go until the US Presidential Election on 8 November, compliance professionals have had their say on its potential impact on the industry, in a survey conducted by The Risk Advisory Group. Four out of five compliance professionals (80.5 per cent) see Donald Trump as the Presidential candidate who poses the greater threat to the compliance profession, while 27 per cent cite the US Election as one of the biggest risks to their business in the year ahead.  

Trump risk

Of the 22 per cent of the respondents who view Trump as the greater risk, his avowed policy positions cause most concern, with one respondent stating that he would advocate for “greater protectionism, and impact on the prosperity of our firm’s clients and their customers.” However, a far greater number (78 per cent) reference his alleged unpredictability as their main worry, with one person citing Trump’s “lack of knowledge and lack of self-control”, and another referring to him as a “loose cannon”. Others are concerned that a Trump Presidency will usher in a period of greater uncertainty, with one expressing the belief that Trump would be “more likely to institute random change”.

The Clinton factor

Hillary Clinton does not escape criticism, with almost a fifth (19.5 per cent) of survey respondents seeing her as the candidate posing the greater risk to the compliance profession. However, whereas Trump’s detractors mostly focus on his perceived character flaws, the majority of Clinton’s critics (55 per cent) take issue with her political record and pledges. One compliance professional fears that Clinton would “probably extend and/or widen US sanctions against Russia, which will cause additional/extended EU sanctions”, another voices concerns that she would be more likely to “use government resources to conduct investigations for political purposes”. These are the early findings of research undertaken by The Risk Advisory Group which polled 157 compliance professionals globally.