Banking in 2026 will be shaped less by products and more by the digital foundations that sit beneath them.
AI is moving from experimentation to execution. Digital assets are becoming embedded infrastructure. Regulation is evolving to reflect how technology is actually used, not just how it was designed. At the same time, rising fraud risks and cross-border complexity are exposing the limits of legacy compliance and identity models.
Together, these forces are redefining trust, identity and data flows across the financial system.
Alex Ford outlines the six interconnected shifts modernising banking in 2026 — and what they mean for risk, compliance and governance leaders.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2026/02/04/six-forces-modernizing-banking-in-2026-inside-the-digital-shifts-transforming-global-finance/
New solution supports faster, more consistent cross-jurisdictional comparisons and automated self-assessments, providing policy teams with structured data and AI-enabled tools to support human analysis and decision-making.
Cambridge, 10 February 2026 – Regulatory data technology company RegGenome today announced the launch of its Policy Intelligence Suite for regulators, standard-setters, and policy authorities, supporting benchmarking against international standards and peer jurisdictions, evidence-based policy decisions, and faster response to regulatory change.
Policy teams are being asked to do more with less. Pressure to simplify regulations, lower compliance burdens, and align domestic frameworks to global standards is growing, while analytical and supervisory resources are not.
In practice, benchmarking, assessments and thematic reviews remain heavily manual. They are time-intensive, costly, and difficult to keep consistent across jurisdictions.
RegGenome’s Policy Intelligence Suite supports consistent, dynamic, transparent comparisons and automated self-assessments—reducing months of manual analysis to minutes—with evidence-based outputs produced for testing, review, and sign-off.
The Policy Intelligence Suite supports three core authority workflows:
“Human-only processes are being stressed as the regulatory landscape increases in complexity. AI-enabled regulatory intelligence solutions have become essential tools for regulatory authorities as they address the challenge of reducing regulatory burden without increasing risk in the system” Prof. Bob Wardrop, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, RegGenome
“Human-only processes are being stressed as the regulatory landscape increases in complexity. AI-enabled regulatory intelligence solutions have become essential tools for regulatory authorities as they address the challenge of reducing regulatory burden without increasing risk in the system”
Prof. Bob Wardrop, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, RegGenome
RegGenome will showcase the Policy Intelligence Suite at the GFTN Forum in Japan (24–27 February 2026, Tokyo).
Titled “Simplifying Compliance: Cleaning Up Policy Sludge with Trained AI Tools”, the session will focus on “policy sludge”, the build-up of overlapping, inconsistent, outdated, and fragmented rules. Policy sludge adds unnecessary compliance burden, obscures real risks, and drains scarce capacity from both regulators and regulated institutions.
It will examine how AI-enabled policy analysis and structured regulatory data can support more consistent, transparent, evidence-based reviews of legal and regulatory frameworks. This helps stakeholders identify where policy sludge sits across mandates, navigate complexity, and accelerate targeted reforms that reduce burden while strengthening integrity, inclusion, and resilience.
The discussions will also draw on ADB and RegGenome’s work mapping AML/CFT and cybersecurity requirements across Pacific jurisdictions, where RegGenome’s solution is being used to benchmark domestic frameworks against global standards and key trading partners.
“The build-up of ‘policy sludge’ hurts everybody. The public gets lost in the complexity. Regulated institutions over-index to checklists. And the efficacy of policymaking gets diluted. AI capabilities now put policy sludge clean up within reach. This is something that all regulators should be exploring.” Michael Hsu, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
“The build-up of ‘policy sludge’ hurts everybody. The public gets lost in the complexity. Regulated institutions over-index to checklists. And the efficacy of policymaking gets diluted. AI capabilities now put policy sludge clean up within reach. This is something that all regulators should be exploring.”
Michael Hsu, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Attendees can visit RegGenome in the exhibition area to request a demonstration of the Policy Intelligence Suite and discuss applications aligned with their policy and supervisory priorities.
To schedule a demonstration in advance, or to schedule time during the Forum, please contact the team below.
RegGenome is a regulatory data technology company, born out of research at the University of Cambridge. Our core competence is machine-based regulatory document analysis. We convert regulatory content into structured, comparable data linked back to source provisions, using open information structures developed with regulators and standard setters. We provide a consistent, transparent, evidence-based, AI-enabled regulatory policy analysis solution, used by close to 100 regulatory authorities worldwide.
Mary Macauley Head of Marketing & Communications RegGenome marketing@reg-genome.com www.reg-genome.com
Yellow Canary is a workforce compliance technology company that helps Australian employers detect, diagnose, and rectify payroll, superannuation, awards, and long service leave errors with automated AI-powered payroll audits.
Yellow Canary recently released their 2026 State of Payroll Report, revealing that despite new wage theft laws and stronger oversight, one in three Australian employers still lack confidence they are paying employees correctly, underscoring the need for clearer data visibility, shared accountability and more consistent use of automated, independent payroll assurance.
Download their report or register for their upcoming webinar that dives into the data: https://www.yellowcanary.com.au/resources/free-downloads/2026-state-of-payroll-compliance-insights
Visit their website: https://www.yellowcanary.com.au/
View other RTA Member Profiles: https://regtechglobal.org/case-studies
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future state for financial services — it’s already embedded in how risk is identified, managed and governed.
This week, Commonwealth Bank of Australia became the first Australian bank to publicly release a detailed report on how it is ideating, developing and deploying AI at scale, with a strong focus on responsible use and risk management.
For risk and compliance leaders, this offers rare insight into how AI governance frameworks are being operationalised in practice — from fraud and scam prevention to customer protection and workforce capability.
As AI adoption accelerates, transparency and shared learning across the ecosystem will be critical.
Read the full report here: https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2026/02/cba-approach-to-adopting-ai-report-announcement.html
Accenture’s Top Banking Trends for 2026 signals a pivotal shift toward what it calls “unconstrained banking.”
As generative and agentic AI, digital assets, and programmable money mature, banks are decoupling growth from headcount and legacy infrastructure. But this transformation also concentrates risk: faster-moving transactions, fragmented data, and AI-driven decisioning are stretching traditional control frameworks.
For risk and compliance leaders, the implication is clear. Static, siloed approaches won’t scale. Governance must be embedded into products, platforms, and workflows from day one.
The question for 2026 is not whether banks adopt these models — but whether risk management can keep pace.
Read the key insights here: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/banking/accenture-banking-trends-2026
Perth, Australia, 9 February 2026: Personr Pty Ltd is redefining compliance in Australia, today releasing an industry-leading feature.
Personr’s new Flow Builder sets a benchmark for flexible, compliance-ready customer verification.
This feature empowers Personr customers to have full control over how they design and manage their onboarding journeys and Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations.
Personr Co-Founder and CEO Charlie Westerman said the release represents a major shift for onboarding in Australia.
“Our new Flow Builder represents a fundamental shift in the industry, from static configurations and templates to customer-designed onboarding journeys,” he said.
It makes onboarding truly adaptable. Brand-aligned at the front, and compliance-confident at the core.”
The Flow Builder speeds up the onboarding process, allowing businesses to create flows in minutes, rather than hours.
This significantly improves deployment speed, helps businesses maintain compliance with AUSTRAC regulations and improves clear, consistent customer communication.
"Australian compliance is evolving fast, and Personr is helping to lead that shift,” said Mr Westerman.
We're proud to be among the first moving the industry in this direction, combining customer-controlled configuration with controls compliance teams expect."
The product:
With the Flow Builder, Personr customers can create their own onboarding journeys by selecting and arranging each step of the KYC process, including ID document capture, selfie and liveness checks, questionnaires, risk assessments, and any additional actions as required.
The onboarding experience can be customised to match a company’s brand and customer experience, while compliance teams retain full control over data sources and AML screening settings, including search criteria and risk rules.
Nick Ahrens, Co-Founder of Personr, said the Flow Builder feature will be game-changing for compliance teams across Australia.
“With the Flow Builder, we have focused on giving businesses a better onboarding experience for their customers,” Mr Ahrens said.
“Customers can design and deploy journeys that feel seamless and on brand, while still meeting Australian compliance requirements.It means faster onboarding, clearer communication, and more confidence for both businesses and the people they onboard.”
The Flow Builder will be available to Personr customers from February 9th 2026.
For more information, please contact the Personr team.
For Media Enquiries: Artemisia Blythe Marketing Lead arte@personr.co
Yellow Canary’s 2026 State of Payroll Compliance Report reveals highlights widespread AI use in payroll compliance, but finds that assurance still relies on governance, audits, and human judgment.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – FEB 2, 2026 - New research shows Australian organisations are increasingly adopting automation and artificial intelligence to manage payroll compliance at scale. The findings show that confidence in payroll outcomes depends on how organisations govern and apply technology in practice.
As payroll environments grow more complex, driven by evolving awards, changing working patterns, and increased regulatory scrutiny, organisations are turning to RegTech to deliver consistency, visibility, and control. However, the data shows that while technology adoption is widespread, confidence in pay accuracy remains uneven.
Insights from Yellow Canary's 2026 State of Payroll Compliance Report reveal that nearly two thirds (64%) of organisations say they are confident in their payroll compliance. At the same time, more than a third (36%) remain unsure they are paying employees correctly. These results indicate that while capability continues to expand, certainty has not yet followed at the same pace.
More than three in four organisations (77%) already use artificial intelligence in some form to support payroll compliance.
Organisations most commonly use AI to assist with scale and complexity alongside existing payroll and compliance processes, including monitoring payroll data to detect compliance issues (42%), tracking legislative and regulatory changes (36%), and reviewing employment contracts against legal guidelines (35%).
According to Marcus Zeltzer, Founder and Managing Director at Yellow Canary, organisations build confidence in payroll compliance when they pair technology with regular, structured audits.
“Automated audit platforms support ongoing assurance,” Zeltzer said. “They test whether pay outcomes reflect actual working arrangements.”
Looking ahead, 57% of employers plan to implement automated payroll audit technology. However, 43% have no immediate plans, highlighting differences in adoption pathways, resourcing, and organisational readiness.
Despite increased use of advanced tools, most organisations continue to apply layered compliance approaches. Nearly half rely on built in payroll system reports (48%) and internal audit functions (47%), while 46% now use external audit technology to improve coverage and visibility across pay outcomes.
This mix of approaches highlights the continued use of established controls alongside newer technologies in managing payroll compliance.
According to Zeltzer, technology has improved organisations’ ability to manage payroll complexity, but assurance depends on how teams apply insights in practice.
“AI has become an enabler in payroll compliance. It can analyse large volumes of data faster and make sense of complexity at scale,” he said. “But technology alone does not create assurance. It needs a human in the loop.”
As awards, classifications, and working patterns continue to evolve, automation and AI give organisations unprecedented visibility into pay outcomes. However, visibility alone does not resolve risk unless organisations act on insights consistently and with accountability.
“Bad data in, bad data out. Technology is a powerful enabler, but it requires strong governance and oversight,” Zeltzer said.
The research shows organisations increasingly view automated payroll audits as a governance essential. When implemented effectively, automated audits shift payroll compliance from a periodic, retrospective activity to an ongoing source of insight into accuracy, coverage, and root causes.
This shift allows organisations to identify issues earlier, address systemic problems, and reduce the likelihood of errors escalating into larger compliance failures or remediation programs.
“Payroll audits must be scheduled regularly. Waiting until an issue arises is too late,” Zeltzer said. “More frequent audits allow organisations to identify issues earlier, reduce risk, and ensure employees are paid correctly.”
Automated audits do not replace payroll and compliance professionals. Instead, they allow teams to focus on judgment, investigation, and decision making, while technology manages scale, repetition, and data analysis.
The findings reinforce a broader principle: organisations build confidence by augmenting human expertise with well governed, scalable technology, rather than treating automation as a substitute for accountability.
As RegTech adoption continues to accelerate, organisations that invest in both technology and governance frameworks are better positioned to move from reactive compliance to proactive assurance.
The 2026 State of Payroll Compliance Report draws on insights from 540 payroll, finance, and compliance leaders across Australia. The research examines confidence levels, audit practices, and how organisations use automation and artificial intelligence to manage payroll compliance.
Download the 2026 State of Payroll Compliance Report here.
Yellow Canary is a workforce compliance technology company that helps Australian businesses detect, diagnose, and rectify payroll, superannuation, awards, and leave errors with automated AI-powered payroll audits.
Before social media, there was Turbo Man.
If you remember Jingle All The Way, you’ll recall frantic parents chasing a must-have toy through malls, back alleys, and black markets. The pressure, scarcity, and willingness to ignore red flags isn’t new.
What has changed is the channel.
Today, that same urgency plays out on social media marketplaces, where fraudsters exploit seasonal demand for high-value gifts. Fake listings, off-platform payments, and rapid disappearance are now part of the holiday shopping playbook.
For risk and compliance teams, social platforms are no longer peripheral signals — they’re primary intelligence.
Worth a read on how these scams operate, and what to watch for: https://www.fivecast.com/blog/holiday-shoppings-dark-side-how-social-media-scams-thrive/
RegASK’s 2026 State of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Report reveals growing AI maturity, but cautions that leadership-operations misalignment could hinder progress.
NEW YORK & SINGAPORE – NOV 18, 2025 – Regulatory pressure is rising at a pace many companies can’t keep up with. According to RegASK’s newly released 2026 State of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Report, 83% of regulatory professionals reported an increase in regulatory volume, a 34% surge from last year. This upswing is overwhelming legacy systems, with serious consequences. More than one-third (37%) of regulatory teams surveyed said their organization missed a regulatory requirement in the past year, and among those, 50% of senior leaders estimated the financial loss to be between US$500,000 and US$1 million, and 14% reported losses exceeding US$1 million. Based on insights from 162 regulatory professionals and senior leaders worldwide across the life sciences and consumer product industries, the report underscores a clear industry mandate: regulatory agility is no longer optional. It has become a key driver of business growth and resilience, and teams recognize that AI will play a defining role in achieving it. The report finds that while the usage and demand for AI has doubled in the past 12 months, the perception gap between leadership expectations and frontline realities remains a key barrier to operationalizing it effectively. Today, most senior leaders believe their teams can respond to new regulations within a week, but the reality on the ground is a demanding one- to four-week scramble that often relies on manual tracking, reactive fixes, and limited resources. When leadership underestimates the time and resources required for compliance, it can lead teams to focus on immediate fixes rather than long-term preparedness. This misalignment often limits the investment operational teams get for advanced tools, leading to missed deadlines, team burnout, and a perpetual cycle of catching up. It also explains why 56% of operational teams surveyed are turning to general-purpose LLMs to solve immediate compliance challenges, rather than waiting for enterprise rollouts. “AI has evolved from being an emerging opportunity to a strategic capability,” said Caroline Shleifer, Founder & CEO of RegASK. “But the real challenge isn't deciding to adopt AI. It's making sure leadership's envisioned plans and timeline matches the reality of what operational teams actually need. That alignment is what enables effective AI adoption and true regulatory agility.” When it comes to advanced applications like agentic AI, adoption remains nascent. Only 7% of senior leaders and 16% of operational teams say they are actively using it today, while 39% have never heard of the technology. This disparity shows that AI maturity is still evolving across regulatory teams, with early adopters shaping standards others will soon have to follow. Key Findings from the 2026 State of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Report: Market Leaders Move Fast: Only 7% of organizations can identify a new regulation and execute a response plan within 48 hours, giving them first-mover advantage in compliance and market access. Most teams operate at a much slower rate, with 16% taking more than a month to respond.
Compliance Blind Spots Carry a High Price: The cost of missing a regulatory requirement extends beyond financial losses. Among the senior leaders who missed a regulatory requirement, 46% faced delayed or canceled product launches, 39% experienced clinical trial disruptions, 36% had product recalls, and 25% suffered brand reputation damage.
Most Regulatory Teams Remain Analog: Despite growing regulatory volume and enthusiasm for AI, most compliance teams still rely on manual workflows. 65% of respondents depend on newsletter alerts from regulators or aggregators, and 48% depend on a dedicated team to manually track updates and translate implications across functions. AI Adoption Builds Momentum: The shift from interest to implementation is improving. Today, 27% of organizations use vertical AI platforms to track regulatory changes - a 42% increase from last year’s 19%. This steady rise shows that teams are moving beyond pilots and beginning to integrate AI into daily compliance workflows. The report outlines a clear trajectory for the function’s evolution. Over the next three years, Regulatory Affairs will transition from a reactive cost center into a strategic command function, powered by AI-driven insights, cross-functional integration, and human oversight. As AI takes on more execution tasks, human expertise will move upstream to focus on judgment and strategy. Teams must develop new skills such as AI literacy, oversight and quality assurance of AI outputs, and ethical reasoning to stay relevant. “The data is clear. The focus has shifted from wanting AI to operationalizing it, and the future belongs to the augmented team where humans lead and AI enables,” said Amenallah Reghimi, RegASK’s Chief Product and Technology Officer. “The goal is not to replace experts, but to free them from low-value work so they can focus on what truly moves the business forward. This is Augmented Intelligence in action, and it's defining the new era of regulatory excellence.” Download the 2026 State of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Report here. About RegASK
RegASK is an AI-driven platform enabling end-to-end regulatory intelligence and workflow orchestration. It automates regulatory intelligence with curated content, actionable insights, and workflow automation, while connecting a global community of over 1,700 subject matter experts for streamlined compliance execution. By combining Agentic AI efficiency with deep regulatory expertise, RegASK empowers organizations to proactively manage compliance and navigate complex regulatory landscapes with confidence. To learn more about RegASK visit regask.com.
Media Contact
Corporate Ink for RegASK
RegASK@corporateink.com
Company unveils refreshed brand following customer research across Australia, New Zealand, and UK
Sydney, Australia, 2 Dec 2025 – Financial crime prevention technology provider ThirdEye has announced a rebrand, simplifying its name from Jade ThirdEye and updating its visual identity to better reflect its positioning as a partner to compliance and financial crime professionals.
The rebrand follows extensive customer research across ThirdEye's three key markets, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, which revealed alignment between what compliance professionals need from technology partners and what ThirdEye has built its business around: genuine partnership, local expertise, and flexible solutions.
"Financial crime prevention is meaningful, complex work that often lands on small teams carrying significant responsibility," said Piet van den Boer, Head of Marketing at ThirdEye. "What became clear through our research is that compliance professionals need partners who understand that reality, not vendors selling rigid products. That's what we've always believed, and this rebrand clarifies our commitment to it."
The company provides transaction monitoring, customer screening, case management, and regulatory reporting solutions to mid-sized financial institutions. ThirdEye's approach emphasises customisation to each client's specific risk landscape, local support teams, and ongoing partnership throughout the customer lifecycle.
The rebrand includes a new visual identity, updated messaging framework, and simplified naming across all markets. The changes are designed to strengthen ThirdEye's market presence while maintaining continuity for existing customers and partners.
ThirdEye serves financial institutions across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdome and operates as part of Jade Software, a Certified B Corporation.
For more information about the rebrand and what's driving the change, visit: https://jadethirdeye.com/blog/your-partner-in-fighting-financial-crime/
About ThirdEye
ThirdEye provides financial crime prevention technology to mid-sized financial institutions across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The company's solutions include transaction monitoring, customer screening, case management, and regulatory reporting tools designed to help compliance teams detect real threats, reduce manual work, and meet regulatory requirements with confidence. ThirdEye is part of Jade Software, a Certified B Corporation. Learn more at https://jadethirdeye.com.
Media Contact: Piet van den Boer, Head of Marketing, ThirdEye, pvandenboer@jadethirdeye.com, +61 408 686 550
© 2023 The RegTech Association
