Singapore banks and financial services companies are being hit hard by the wave in new regulations, where one in two (or 49 per cent) are being forced to increase their budget for managing regulatory change.

One in five Singapore companies (22 per cent) are raising expenditure this year on compliance, by more than 20 per cent compared to 2012, while the other 78 per cent expect budget increases of between 1 and 20 per cent.

The findings were reported in a Robert Half global study which surveyed 1,100 chief financial officers and chief operating officers from seven major financial centres - Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Britain and the United States.

The report also found that nine in 10 Singapore financial services leaders are challenged by the changing regulatory environment, leading to increased workloads and rising costs.