The financial crisis saw a heavy investment in compliance as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic hit banks and other firms in the sector with massive fines for years of bending the rules and breaking the law. Now the financial services industry is looking to cut back on those costs, and increased technology spend appears to be the answer.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...