Last week, we hosted a Wicked Lunch as part of our Spotlight on RegTech, Resilience and Compliance series. Building on the insights from our Glasgow roundtable, the session brought together voices from industry and academia to explore some of the toughest challenges facing financial services today.
Hosted by UKFin+ Director William Knottenbelt
Our panellists: Iago Martinez – FundApps, Dr Nashwa (Joy) Saleh – Kingston Business School, Sarah Sinclair – Co-Labs Global
Key themes from the discussion:
Collaboration remains a barrier and an opportunity
Everyone agrees that collaboration between regulators, industry, and academia is essential, but moving from good intentions to real joint action is still a hurdle. Creating safe spaces, like sandboxes, where innovation and regulation can evolve together, is one way forward.
The true cost of compliance
With constantly evolving regulations, compliance consumes between 10% and 15% of operating costs for UK financial institutions, with fines running into hundreds of millions. This shows the scale of the challenge, but also why RegTech solutions that simplify compliance and reduce costs are so valuable.
Data as the backbone of RegTech
Poor quality, siloed, and inconsistent data continue to block progress. Yet there is optimism that AI can help transform how regulations are digitised, data is integrated, and decisions are explained more transparently. Getting this right will unlock huge opportunities.
AI’s potential — and its risks
AI has enormous promise, from parsing regulations into machine-readable formats to identifying financial crime and strengthening operational resilience. But questions remain about bias, sustainability, and the energy impact of AI models. We also need to ensure innovation does not outpace fairness and trust.
The consumer and SME perspective
Too often overlooked, consumers and small businesses sit at the heart of these issues. RegTech must deliver transparency, fairness, and better financial literacy if we are to rebuild confidence in financial services.
Future skills and talent
With junior roles evolving, we need new pathways into compliance and RegTech. Universities and industry must work more closely together to equip graduates with the tools and knowledge they need to contribute from day one.
Our takeaway
RegTech goes far beyond technical tools; it’s about fostering the right behaviours, principles, and ways of working. These challenges are deeply rooted and multifaceted, but through collaboration, we can shape solutions that drive meaningful change across the sector.
RegTech should be recognised as a cornerstone of the industry’s future rather than a niche branch of Fintech. Tackling its challenges demands commitment from academia, industry, and regulators alike. The reward is clear: a financial system that operates with greater resilience, fairness, and credibility.
Thank you once again to our panellists for sharing their insights, and to all who joined us for the conversation.
Watch the RegTech, Resilience & Compliance Wicked Lunch on our YouTube channel:
