The securities industry last week complained that compliance costs on Wall Street have nearly doubled in the past three years to more than $25 billion—largely because of duplicate or inconsistent regulatory schemes that could be avoided.
According to a report from the Securities Industry Association, compliance costs have surged from $13 billion in 2002, and on average cost securities firms 13 percent of their revenues in 2005. Securities firms reported receiving an average of 231 inquiries per firm over the last 12 months, or nearly one every business day.
