According to a report from Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk & Compliance, regulators around the world announced 14,215 changes during 2011 representing a 16 per cent rise from the 2010 total of 12,179.

Of the new regulations introduced, 22 per cent originated in the UK. The US led the way with 57 per cent, while Asia accounted for 15 per cent.

Scott McCleskey, global head of financial services regulation at Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk & Compliance, comments, ‘The major regulators in the US, UK, Australia and Hong Kong together account for only 20 per cent of this activity.

‘Firms focusing solely on these regulators run the risk of missing possibly vital changes from other sources. Put differently, for every regulatory change made by one of the major regulators, there were four from the rest. What better illustration could there be of the magnitude of the challenge facing firms and the need for firms to keep abreast of what is going on in each and every market they operate in.’

The rate of regulation changes, which ranges from a speech announcing a proposed legislation to a final binding rule, has been on a steady increase since Thomson Reuters’ tracking began.

In 2008 8,704 changes were recorded, rising to 10,075 in 2009, and climbing past 14,000 over the next two years to its current level.

On the back of the findings Thomson Reuters says that the level of announcements is set to increase in 2012 as governments continue to tighten regulation and new directives.