Christiaan Visser

Partner, Deloitte

Pre-event interview

This is a pre-event interview in the run-up to the Leaders in Finance Compliance Event on 19 September 2024

Jeroen: Hi Christiaan, thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to Leaders in Finance in the run-up to the Leaders in Finance Compliance Event on 19 September 2024 in Soesterberg. First of all, could you introduce yourself? 

Christiaan: My name is Christiaan Visser, and I am a partner at Deloitte. I spent the first fifteen years of my professional career at ING Bank, where I started, fresh out of law school, in the legal department. After that period, I became one of the first compliance officers at ING Bank. That was during the ‘big compliance boom’. Later, I moved into program management and worked in the Customer Domain. Nine years ago, I transitioned to Deloitte, where I now lead a large team of regulatory compliance professionals. 

Jeroen: Great. It is probably hard to summarize, but if you would try, what do you like so much and what is so interesting about your current role? In other words: what gives you the most energy? 

Christiaan: For me it is about solving complex problems within a highly regulated industry together with great clients and talented people. Leveraging the insights that we have across our network and across capabilities and creating synergy with our clients is very inspiring to me. There are almost no problems that you can solve with just a compliance team. You often need other capabilities, such as technology, data, behavioral science, and more. Connecting different capabilities to create solutions for complex issues is what gets me up in the morning. 

Jeroen: Do you do this between nine to five, or usually more than that? 

Christiaan: It is a bit of a cliché about consulting. I always say: “Time flies when you’re having fun”. When it is enjoyable, it is not a problem to work outside the nine-to-five hours. The cliché that consulting work is limitless is not entirely true. We set boundaries. But if we run, we run together, often together with our clients. And when it is time to rest, we take that time as well. 

Jeroen: What do you see as the biggest challenges at the moment with regards to the compliance role in financial services? 

Christiaan: I would not name just one topic. I think it mainly lies in getting stuck in what I usually refer to as ‘taming the beast’. That is, at some point, you become so focused on “being compliant” that you stop considering the thought behind the rules and regulations. The “why”, so to say. And that is sometimes very difficult because when there is pressure, such as a strict supervision process or worse, it can be very challenging to take a step back and think: “Okay, but what is the real question here? And how could we address it?” You increasingly notice that the financial institutions that are less burdened by “non-compliance legacy” can innovate more. And that innovation is not necessarily aimed at doing more with fewer people but at truly addressing that question I was just referring to. I think that is the big challenge for compliance officers. If you lose track of that “why”, you run the risk that you overly focus on the form and not on the (sometimes emerging new) substance. 

Jeroen: Could you share examples or trends that happened in the compliance space last year that particularly have concerned you or caught your attention? 

Christiaan: We see some trends coming up, both in the Netherlands and abroad. One of them is closely related to the complexity of regulations, but also the complexity of structures within institutions to manage risks and can be summarized as ‘the need for standardization’. We notice that incredibly complex structures are being set up within institutions to comply and report. To give an example surrounding the theme of AML and CTF regulation (which often comes up). Structures are set up to identify and manage risk, create transparency and report on it effectively. But when new regulations, for example sustainability, come in, are we then going to create similar new structures? And the following regulations after that? Of course, all institutions have their own Compliance frameworks and tooling and have the goal to integrate as much as possible, but how they are used is often slightly different because regulations are different, and the regulator is also often slightly different. To make it even more complex you also have an international context that institutions are often exposed to and eventually you end up with a structure where that is not efficient and (even worse) not effective. Standardization within Compliance is therefore no longer an “nice to have”, but a necessity to manage Compliance effectively and efficiently.

Jeroen: It reminds me of a bit of years of tech buildup, that you have some spaghetti with all sorts of tech systems that no longer talk to each other. Is that the same here?

Christiaan: Actually, you are creating a lot of legacy, and at a certain point, you are more focused on the form than the substance, whereas in the end it is really about substance. So, I think that is definitely a trend that is being strongly focused on. How can we become more efficient in order to become also more effective? A second trend is the use of data. It has been a buzzword for the last ten years, but now we really see it being applied in the market. And not just by Deloitte but also our clients. We see our clients using data to make real risks more transparent and to pinpoint where they should focus. What is happening with their portfolios? We are seeing this to a greater extent every day, and you also see this reflected in the management of the compliance function. Different types of people are now involved. Where previously it was mainly lawyers or accountants dealing with risk, I now see a lot of data experts. So really cool things are happening in the market. I think that is a great example where you are not just looking at efficiency, but also at whether you are really focusing on the right things. And that sometimes leads to new risks, but also sometimes to the realization that we have been doing A, B, and C for years and it is actually pointless. I think that is a great example of where you can do more when it is needed, but also do less where it is possible. 

Jeroen: Do you generally speaking see technology as a compliance opportunity or risk? 

Christiaan: I think just like data, tech has always been a bit of a buzzword. Over the years, I have probably been to fifty conferences with the most impressive tools. But often those were just presentations, and the tools themselves were quite thin. Now we are seeing increasingly more real adoption. We see particularly in the context I just described regarding complex regulations, automation is happening progressively, more AI is being used, which makes you much more efficient and therefore also frees up time to focus on real risks. I think that is a very positive development. It has had to mature because it is not the sexiest subject to innovate, but I see an increasing number of institutions doing this themselves. And I also see an increasing number of tech providers coming up with great solutions. 

Jeroen: Wonderful. Last question: Do you have any tips for starters in compliance in the financial sector? 

Christiaan: What I always explain to my own consultants is that it is very important to – as a starting point – understand regulations. Specifically for us, it is of course essential to have consultancy skills. But absolutely the most important thing – and this certainly overlaps with a compliance officer at an institution – is that you really understand the context in which you operate. That may be a bit of an open door, but I think many people coming from school have a good understanding of what regulation is or how to set up risk management. The context within the bank or an insurance company and the role such an institution plays in society is very important. It is crucial to understand that context in order to accurately assess your compliance risks and justify the controls that go with them and look further than only the form and to create substance. 

Jeroen: Thank you Christiaan Visser, partner at Deloitte, for taking the time to speak to Leaders in Finance in the run-up to the Leaders in Finance Compliance Event on the 19th of September this year. We are delighted that you will be one of the speakers and are looking forward to having you there. Thank you. 

Christiaan: You’re welcome. I’m looking forward to the event myself.

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