What happened?
Regulators around the world have signalled their intent to keep strengthening consumer protections and raising standards, including the incoming Consumer Duty, the expansion of the Appointed Representatives regime, and the FCA’s Consumer Investments Strategy.
Research from the Wealth and Asset Management 4.0 project found that one in three businesses polled expect risk management regulation to increase within the next two years.
In this piece, TCC Group Chief Commercial Officer Mark Hover explains how digital transformation and RegTech are helping firms manage this growing compliance workload.
Why does it matter?
Staying on top of compliance manually is becoming unmanageable for even the most experienced teams as new rules accumulate. Private banks, retail asset managers and broker-dealers are already leading the shift, with more than half self-reporting mid- or advanced-stage digital development.
Around 65% of these firms are investing in process automation, 52% in smart data and analytics, and 46% in tech-powered compliance platforms, showing that digital tools are becoming standard practice rather than an experiment.
Who is affected?
Banking, wealth management, pensions, payments, lending, insurance and motor finance firms that need to scale compliance activity, such as file reviews and SMCR administration, without a matching increase in headcount.
Key risks
- Manual compliance processes becoming unmanageable as new regulatory requirements accumulate
- File reviews and quality assurance checks that are too labour-intensive to scale with demand
- HR teams administering processes like SMCR Fitness & Propriety assessments without the regulatory knowledge to handle irregular cases
Actions to take
- Automate time-consuming file checking tasks to increase the number of checks carried out without adding headcount
- Introduce workflow tools that guide teams through processes such as SMCR administration step by step
- Use speech analytics to review client conversations and direct reviewer attention to higher-risk interactions
- Build a management information trail that supports supervisory oversight and audit evidence
Wider implications
With around 30% of firms expecting more rules on conduct and individual accountability, RegTech that codifies best practice into workflows can help firms stay consistent as requirements continue to change.
Recommendations
Firms should look for RegTech solutions built with the regulator’s expectations in mind, so that compliance processes hold up to scrutiny as headcount-neutral automation takes on a larger share of the workload.
Supporting sources
Frequently asked questions
Why are firms turning to RegTech?
New regulatory requirements, including Consumer Duty and the expanded Appointed Representatives regime, are making manual compliance processes unmanageable, so firms are automating tasks like file reviews and SMCR administration instead.
What is TCC's High-Performance Assurance (HPA) solution?
HPA automates time-consuming file checking tasks, letting assurance teams increase the number of checks carried out without adding headcount, and it is underpinned by Recordsure’s technology.
How does Recordsure AI Voice help with quality assurance?
It transcribes and segments client conversations and directs reviewers’ attention to high-risk interactions, making quality reviews quicker and more consistent.
What does TCC's SMCR Pro do?
It provides case management workflows that guide HR and compliance teams through SMCR processes, such as Fitness and Propriety assessments, in line with FCA expectations.
- FCA remuneration reform explained: what CP26/27 could mean for firmsAnalysis & Perspectives · September 2, 2026
- IBS Intelligence: Why financial services firms face growing AI governance scrutinyAnalysis & Perspectives · September 2, 2026
- FCA CP26/28: What the AIFM regime reforms mean for wealth managers and firmsRegulatory Horizon · September 2, 2026
- Will Value for Money assessments change how advisers compare pension providers?Regulatory Horizon · September 2, 2026
- BankingTCC helps retail banks, challenger banks, building societies and specialist banking providers strengthen governance, manage financial crime risk and demonstrate good customer outcomes. Our specialists support Consumer Duty, remediation, regulatory transformation, FCA intervention and compliance assurance programmes through advisory, managed services, specialist resourcing and technology-enabled compliance. With more than 25 years of experience supporting FCA-regulated firms, we help banks respond confidently to regulatory scrutiny while strengthening operational resilience and customer trust.
- General Insurance & ProtectionTCC helps insurers, brokers, MGAs and protection providers evidence fair value, strengthen customer outcomes and identify emerging customer harm. We assess product governance, claims performance, distribution oversight and vulnerability risks, helping firms create regulator-ready evidence, improve operational performance and demonstrate that products and services deliver value throughout the customer lifecycle.
- Lending & Consumer CreditTCC helps consumer credit firms evidence good outcomes, strengthen affordability and vulnerability frameworks, and manage complaints, remediation and regulatory risk. We support lenders with practical, regulator-ready compliance programmes that improve governance, customer treatment and operational resilience.
- Motor FinanceTCC helps motor finance lenders, brokers and providers assess redress exposure, prepare for large-scale customer reviews and strengthen complaints, affordability and Consumer Duty frameworks. We combine regulatory advisory, managed operations, specialist resource and technology-enabled assurance to deliver consistent customer outcomes, robust governance and regulator-ready evidence under heightened FCA scrutiny.