The Growing Demand for Fintechs Building Bank‑Grade Compliance from Day One

Compliance Has Moved from the Sidelines to the Centre

There was a time when compliance sat behind the business-important, but seldom urgent. That’s no longer true.

Today, licensing, AML frameworks, and data governance aren’t layers you add after scaling-they’re prerequisites to scaling at all.

For COOs and leadership teams, this changes the calculus. Compliance isn’t just about avoiding downside risk; it now dictates how quickly you move, which markets you can enter, and how confidently you can grow.

Operationally, the cost of keeping pace is rising. Some institutions reportedly spend up to 70% of their compliance capacity just tracking and interpreting regulatory change-leaving little room for innovation or control improvement. For lean fintechs, that only works if compliance is treated as infrastructure, not overhead.

Why the Shift Is Happening Now

Several forces are converging across APAC to raise the bar-and Singapore and Hong Kong are right at the centre.

1. AML expectations now look a lot like banking
   Regulators are no longer granting fintechs a “startup grace period.” Across payments, lending, and digital assets, AML frameworks are now expected to mirror those of licensed financial institutions: rigorous controls, board‑level accountability, and zero tolerance for fixing things later.

   AML has become a capability to continuously evolve, not a single project to complete.

2. Digital assets are moving firmly into regulation
   What was once a grey area is fast becoming formalised.
   Both MAS and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are tightening frameworks for digital asset businesses, with 2026 already dubbed a “stress test year” for crypto compliance. That includes new stablecoin regimes, more structured licensing pathways, and elevated expectations around custody, disclosures, and ongoing supervision.

    For many firms, this has made compliance deeply operational-not just advisory.

3. AI is now part of the compliance perimeter
   AI is already embedded in onboarding, fraud detection, and credit decisioning-but scrutiny is rising.

   The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s proposed AI Risk Management Guidelines (2025) set firm expectations around governance, explainability, data quality, and human oversight.

This pulls AI squarely into compliance’s remit and shifts accountability to senior leadership. Yet the gap between expectation and capability is wide, with many APAC compliance teams still operating heavily manually.

The Reality Gap

This mismatch between regulatory ambition and operational capability is where strain shows up.

Recent 2026 data suggests:

• Around two‑thirds of APAC compliance teams still rely on manual processes
• More than half are facing periodic KYC backlogs

Yet fintechs are expected to deliver:

• Bank‑grade AML frameworks
• Multi‑jurisdiction licensing strategies
• Oversight of AI, data, and operational risk

All with lean teams and limited automation.
It’s here that stronger operators begin to stand out-those who view compliance as leverage, not constraint.

Why the First Hires Matter More Than Ever

This is often underestimated.

Early legal and compliance hires don’t just “do the job”-they define how the business scales.

As one of our consultants puts it:

“There’s always demand for these roles in Singapore and Hong Kong. But it’s those first few hires that really define how the business grows.”

In practice, these individuals are:

• Setting licensing strategy
• Building AML and risk frameworks from scratch
• Acting as the primary interface with regulators
• Influencing how and where the business expands

Hire too late-or hire the wrong profile-and the impact is immediate: delayed licence approvals, product rollout restrictions, or investor hesitation.

The Talent Gap and How Fintechs Are Responding

Across APAC, the shortage of fintech‑native compliance talent is real.
There simply aren’t enough professionals who’ve built frameworks from the ground up, managed regulators in Singapore and Hong Kong, and scaled across multiple jurisdictions.

To bridge the gap, fintechs are hiring from banks, big tech, and even regulators themselves. It’s a deliberate shift, not a fallback. These hires bring:

• Deep understanding of regulatory expectations
• Experience in structured governance environments
• Practical insight into how regulation works in practice

As Bernie Ding notes:

“There isn’t always a deep enough in‑sector talent pool. Looking outside fintech often gives you stronger fundamentals, especially around how regulation works day‑to‑day.”

What This Means for Leadership

For COOs and senior leaders, the key question is no longer when to invest in compliance but what kind of compliance function you need to enable growth.

Because in today’s APAC landscape, compliance directly shapes:

• Speed to licensing
• Ease of market expansion
• Confidence from regulators and investors

Final Thought

Fintech in APAC is entering a more mature phase. Regulation is catching up-and in some areas, racing ahead.

The fintechs that navigate this next stage successfully will be those that treat compliance as a core part of their operating model, not an afterthought.

In other words:
Bank‑grade compliance isn’t what you build later-it’s what you build on.

Sources

• Fenergo & Risk.net, APAC Client Lifecycle Management / KYC Survey (2026)
  https://www.fenergo.com/resources/research-reports
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Consultation on AI Risk Management Guidelines (AIRG), November 2025
  https://www.mas.gov.sg/publications/consultations
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Targeted Update on Implementation of Standards for Virtual Assets and VASPs (2025)
  https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications
• Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), Consultations on Virtual Asset Service Provider and Stablecoin Regimes (2025–2026)
  https://www.fstb.gov.hk/en/publication/consultation/
• Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Virtual Asset Regulatory Framework and Guidance (Hong Kong)
  https://www.sfc.hk/en/Regulatory-functions/Intermediaries/Virtual-asset-trading-platforms
• Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Stablecoin Regulatory Framework Developments
  https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/financial-infrastructure/stablecoins/
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Payment Services Act and Digital Payment Token Regulatory Framework
  https://www.mas.gov.sg/regulation/acts/payment-services-act

Get in touch

If you’re looking for deeper insights or market intelligence to inform your career decisions or hiring strategy within APAC’s fintech, legal, and compliance sectors, our regional specialists are here to help.

Whether you’re building a team from scratch, benchmarking compensation, or exploring your next move, we can provide tailored intelligence on regulatory developments, market trends, and talent dynamics across Singapore, Hong Kong, and the wider region.

Connect with our APAC team to discuss how we can support your growth. Get in touch.