A significant proportion of companies are not fully aware of where their company's corporate data is held, a Deloitte survey has revealed.

The survey – of 100 UK businesses with a turnover of between £1bn and £3bn – showed that only 29% of companies are aware of where their corporation's data is held and would be able to retrieve this in the event of a request from the regulator.

Sixty-six percent were ‘reasonably’ aware of where it was held, while 5% said they did not know.

Kelvin McGregor-Alcorn, Deloitte director in the Forensic and Dispute Services team, said: 'When it comes to the reality of what companies have to produce, and the time and format they have to produce it in, they tend not to have a grasp of the breadth and depth of power of regulatory bodies.'

'There is a naivety on the Board that management of electronic data will be dealt with properly and efficiently, and often an assumption made that the board will know all about it. Another assumption is that companies can conduct their own investigations. Regulators simply do not allow this. '