BearingPoint to grow headcount in Ireland to 340
Global consulting firm BearingPoint has announced that it will up its Irish staff from 300 due to an increase in demand related to regulatory technology. With numerous new regulations set to bind businesses in 2018, the firm is looking to add another 40 team members to cope with clients requesting help to maintain their compliance on multiple fronts.
In the wake of the growing regulatory and compliance burden, financial services firms are increasingly looking at ways to decrease the costs for implementation and monitoring. Compliance budgets have spiralled in recent years, with 55% of institutions saying that their compliance budgets have increased by up to 25% or more in the previous 12 months. As landmark regulations such as the GDPR approach, regulatory technology is being viewed as increasingly essential for businesses to meet the growing level of compliance expected of them.
In Ireland, as with the rest of Europe, this has sparked growth in the consulting industry, which last year stood at 5% in the Republic, as clients sought external advice as to how they might best navigate this new regulatory environment. EY reported both strong revenue and consultant count growth in Ireland over 2017, as did Big Four rivals PwC, with the firm recently expanding its Cork office with 12 new partners. Accenture is also looking to grow substantially in the nation, having completed acquisitions in Ireland to gain market share quickly.
Most recently, this demand has seen Amsterdam-based BearingPoint begin work to add to its global headcount of 10,000 people, with the hiring of additional consultants and staff in its Irish wing. The technology consultancy, which has clients in more than 75 countries, plans to increase its Dublin headcount to 340, as it braces for expected growth in its international regulatory technology (RegTech) business.
BearingPoint has announced 40 new vacancies in its Irish team, with the roles advertised including project managers, data analysts and software developers. The firm said that this was in line with the growth of its RegTech offering boosting its market share in Europe, North America and the Far East.
The consultancy already works with several Irish and international financial institutions and banks, and has an established RegTech centre of excellence at its headquarters on Adelaide Road in Dublin. The new employees will be based there, working on RegTech products as well as BearingPoint’s digital ecosystem and data analytics software.
According to BearingPoint country leader Eric Conway, the idea of BearingPoint’s technology is to steer banks and other financial services companies away from risky business practices. “Regulation continues to be a key area of focus and growth for BearingPoint, both in Ireland and internationally, across a number of sectors including financial services, health, aviation and telecommunications,” Conway summarised.
Conway was appointed to the role in October last year, and will also be responsible for financial and communications sectors in addition to digital transformation and online engagements in the role – both key areas for BearingPoint, if the firm is to hit its long term goal of €1 billion in global revenues by 2020.
