In the wake of the financial crisis, federal and state regulators are increasingly taking action against individuals for alleged compliance lapses inside financial services companies, and recent reports indicate that sanctions imposed on individuals are on the rise.

This trend in actions against individuals taken by banking, consumer finance, securities and anti-money laundering regulators elevates the risk of individual liability for both compliance professionals and corporate officers. Most telling, the enforcement actions against individuals are reaching beyond sanctions for personal misconduct to address lapses in oversight and management of controls. Indeed, a recent survey found that more than half of compliance professionals expect their personal liability to increase in 2014.

Originally published in Law360 on May 7, 2014.