FE fundinfo’s Helen Slater: Compliance a competitive advantage in new world of regulation

'Less forgiving' regulatory environment

This article by Helen Slater, Regulatory Manager at FE fundinfo, was originally published in Investment Week in April 2026.

Firms are contending with a dense convergence of reforms across the UK and EU.

CCI in the UK, the evolution of PRIIPs, the implementation of AIFMD II/UCITS VI, and the ongoing development of SFDR II are all impacting the industry this year within a very narrow timeframe.

Each development carries with it its own requirements but, when taken together, operational pressure is created that goes beyond normal levels of incremental change.

Focusing purely on the volume of change, however, risks missing the more important development. Regulation is becoming more embedded within day-to-day operations, driven by data, and increasingly expected to function in real time.

That shift is already visible in how regulatory frameworks are being designed. Disclosure is moving away from static, document-led outputs towards digital-first formats. Regulators are placing greater emphasis on comparability and accessibility, not just for compliance purposes but to improve investor understanding.

In parallel, supervisory expectations are expanding, with requirements around governance and oversight becoming more explicit and more closely scrutinised.

At the same time, geographic divergence continues to complicate matters. The UK's post-Brexit approach is increasingly distinct from that of the EU, particularly in relation to retail disclosures and sustainability frameworks.

While there are areas of conceptual alignment, the practical reality for cross-border firms is duplication of effort. Differing requirements must often be managed in parallel, meaning harmonisation remains an aspiration.

The result is a regulatory environment both more complex and less forgiving. Compressed timelines leave little room for error and expectations around data quality and consistency are rising.

Firms that continue to treat compliance as a downstream process, something that happens after products are built and data is assembled, will find that model increasingly difficult to sustain.

Instead, the direction of travel is towards proactive, data-led compliance. This means embedding validation at the point of data creation, rather than relying on checks at the end of the process.

It means ensuring the same underlying dataset can support multiple regulatory outputs across jurisdictions, while managing differences in requirements in a controlled and consistent way. And it means designing workflows where compliance is integrated into production, as opposed to being layered on top of it.

Technology is central to this transition but it is not a straightforward solution. The growing use of AI within compliance workflows is already delivering efficiencies, particularly in areas such as data validation and monitoring.

However, the regulatory scrutiny of these tools is also increasing. Requirements around accountability and oversight are becoming more defined, particularly in the EU. Firms are therefore balancing opportunity with responsibility, adopting AI where it enhances control but under conditions that ensure transparency and governance.

For many organisations, the more immediate challenge lies closer to home. Years of incremental regulatory change have led to fragmented systems and processes. Legacy infrastructure, often adapted repeatedly to meet new requirements, can struggle to support the level of consistency and agility now required. Each additional layer introduces complexity, increasing the risk of operational inefficiency.

This creates a tension at the heart of decision-making. Many firms are understandably reluctant to undertake large-scale transformation, particularly in an environment already shaped by continuous regulatory change.

The instinct is to adapt existing processes and to make incremental changes that meet immediate requirements. In the short term, this approach can appear pragmatic.

Over time, however, it can also become a limiting factor. As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, the ability to respond quickly and consistently becomes a differentiator.

The firms that pull ahead will not necessarily be those with the largest compliance teams or the greatest resources. More often, they will be those who have rethought how compliance fits within their broader operating model.

They will treat data as a strategic asset, prioritise integration over patchwork solutions and recognise regulatory change is a constant to be designed around.

Looking ahead, the direction is unlikely to reverse. Regulatory expectations will continue to evolve, driven by technological change and the ongoing push for greater transparency and investor protection. Over time, compliance will start to play a more direct role in shaping how firms compete.