The trend over regtech is actual. In response to rising buyer calls for, rising monetary crime threats, and makes an attempt by regulatory our bodies to handle each of those developments, the sector of regulatory compliance has by no means been extra topical in monetary providers.
To this finish, we interviewed banking and monetary providers compliance veteran Tracy Moore. Director of Thought Management & Regulatory Affairs at Fenergo, Moore joins the Finovate weblog to supply her perspective on the regulatory setting for banks, fintechs, and monetary providers corporations in 2025.
As a part of Finovate’s commemoration of Ladies’s Historical past Month, we additionally focus on problems with gender variety in banking and monetary providers, and the function of mentorship in serving to foster future leaders within the business.
Are you able to inform us a bit of about your self and the work you do at Fenergo?
Tracy Moore: I started my profession in company authorized coaching, specializing in finance and treasury transactions. My journey took me to Europe, the place I transitioned into banking, spending a lot of my profession in authorized and compliance roles at world monetary establishments. Upon returning to the U.S., I continued this path at a super-regional financial institution, gaining in depth expertise in regulatory compliance and monetary crime threat administration.
Immediately, I function the Director of Thought Management & Regulatory Affairs at Fenergo, the worldwide chief in Shopper Lifecycle Administration (CLM) expertise for monetary establishments. On this function, I concentrate on monetary crime threat administration, regulatory change, and digital transformation, serving to establishments remedy for complicated regulatory environments whereas enhancing operational effectivity.
I’m deeply keen about influencing business change and driving technological developments that make the monetary sector safer and extra resilient. My work includes collaborating with world regulators, monetary establishments, and expertise suppliers to develop modern options that shield the business towards monetary crime. I assist join regulation and expertise to form the way forward for compliance and threat administration in at present’s monetary panorama.
What’s it in regards to the discipline of banking compliance that you simply discover most attention-grabbing professionally?
Moore: I discover it fascinating how geopolitical occasions form the worldwide monetary business, influencing not simply regulatory frameworks but additionally presenting new challenges, akin to monetary crime and evolving threat landscapes. Immediately’s economic system is so interconnected, and because of this monetary establishments should continuously shift to handle challenges akin to sanctions, rising threats, and evolving compliance necessities.
What actually pursuits me is the fragile stability monetary establishments should strike assembly regulatory expectations, staying forward of more and more subtle unhealthy actors, driving income progress, and making certain protected monetary providers for his or her shoppers. Reaching this stability requires a mix of strategic foresight, innovation, and collaboration throughout the business. On a regular basis has a brand new perspective and new challenges.
How has banking compliance modified over the course of your profession within the business?
Moore: Wanting again over the previous 25 years, the evolution of banking compliance has been nothing in need of dramatic. Once I began my profession, compliance was usually seen as a back-office operate, extra about checking packing containers than driving change. Quick ahead to at present, and compliance has grow to be a core pillar of monetary establishments, shaping every thing from threat administration to buyer expertise.
One of many greatest shifts after all has been expertise developments. Alongside this, the sheer tempo and complexity of regulatory change. Occasions like 9/11, the 2008 monetary disaster, and main geopolitical shifts have fully reshaped the regulatory panorama. We’ve moved from extra localized, paper-based processes to a hyper-digital, data-driven, and globally interconnected method to compliance.
As a lady on this business, I’ve additionally witnessed the rising function of various management in compliance and threat administration. The sphere has advanced past conventional authorized and audit backgrounds to welcome technologists, knowledge analysts, and strategic thinkers, lots of whom are girls bringing contemporary views to a traditionally male-dominated house.
Points (and innovation) in banking compliance have by no means been extra prime of thoughts. How have we arrived at this level, and is it a superb factor for banks and their prospects?
Moore: We’re right here as a result of the stakes have by no means been greater. Over the previous twenty years, a mixture of monetary crises, evolving threats, digital disruption, and geopolitical shifts has pushed compliance to the forefront. Regulators have responded with more and more complicated expectations, bringing the function of compliance into strategic planning for monetary establishments.
This strain has fuelled innovation.
AI, automation, and knowledge analytics are remodeling compliance, lowering handbook processes, enhancing threat detection, and enhancing the shopper experiences. Banks at the moment are in a position to onboard shoppers quicker, monitor exercise in actual time, and anticipate threats earlier than they escalate.
For banks, it’s each a problem and a chance. Compliance is more durable than ever, however those that embrace expertise can achieve a aggressive edge. And for purchasers stronger compliance means higher safety, smoother transactions, and extra belief within the system.
Seeing this shift firsthand is what lead me to make the choice to depart the standard compliance function in banking and be a part of Fenergo as a result of I knew expertise can be the driving drive behind the way forward for compliance, and I needed to be a part of this transformation.
How do AI and automation create new compliance challenges for banks? In what methods can corporations use these applied sciences to handle compliance points?
Moore: AI and automation can streamline compliance, however additionally they increase considerations each from regulators and banks themselves. Many establishments are skeptical, worrying about black-box decision-making, regulatory scrutiny, and potential biases.
The important thing problem is explainability. Regulators want to grasp how AI-driven choices are made, so corporations should prioritize transparency, clear documentation, and robust oversight.
That mentioned, when used responsibly, AI can improve threat detection, automate handbook duties, and enhance compliance effectivity. The answer lies in communication by working with regulators to make sure AI fashions are interpretable, auditable, and aligned with compliance requirements.
What areas of banking compliance do you suppose deserve extra consideration than they’re getting?
Moore: Rising digital property and world regulatory alignment are two areas that want much more consideration in banking compliance. The speedy rise of crypto, tokenization, and digital funds has outpaced regulatory frameworks, leaving monetary establishments in a tricky spot. How do you innovate whereas staying compliant in an setting the place the foundations are nonetheless being written? With out clear, constant pointers, banks are hesitant to completely have interaction, creating uncertainty for your entire business.
On the similar time, jurisdictional variations make compliance extremely burdensome in at present’s world economic system. Monetary crime doesn’t cease at borders, however rules do, forcing banks to navigate a patchwork of necessities that decelerate operations and improve prices. Extra world alignment and collaboration between regulators may ease this burden, making certain that compliance is each efficient and sensible in a world the place cash strikes quicker than ever.
And lastly, the evolving nature of monetary crime. Criminals are getting extra subtle, utilizing every thing from deepfake identities to crypto mixing providers to evade detection. Compliance packages want to maneuver past conventional rule-based approaches and embrace real-time, predictive intelligence to remain forward.
What are your ideas on the progress made—or not made—towards larger gender variety in banking lately? Are you optimistic about the way forward for girls in banking, notably in areas like compliance?
Moore: Ladies in banking, particularly in compliance, have made progress, however not practically sufficient. Too usually, variety is ignored as a enterprise benefit as a substitute of acknowledged for the worth it brings. In at present’s geopolitical and monetary setting, organizations want various views to navigate threat and drive innovation, but these views are nonetheless dismissed.
Regardless of this, I’m optimistic. Ladies are good, resilient, and chronic. We proceed to show our experience in methods that can not be ignored. Compliance is an space the place girls thrive as a result of it calls for strategic pondering, problem-solving, and management beneath strain.
Actual change will occur when corporations transfer past surface-level efforts and embrace variety as a aggressive benefit. Ladies will preserve breaking obstacles, whether or not the business is prepared or not.
Mentorship can play a key function in serving to girls getting into monetary providers or launching fintechs. Did mentorship play a major function in your early profession? What message would you give to banking and monetary providers professionals with regards to sharing their insights and expertise as mentors?
Moore: Mentorship has been invaluable in my profession. I’ve at all times sought out mentors and sponsors—each women and men—who may information my growth and problem me to develop. Past that, I’ve chosen a private board of administrators: feminine skilled leaders throughout numerous industries who’ve supplied perception, help, and perspective at each stage of my journey.
For these in banking and monetary providers, mentorship is extra than simply giving recommendation or sharing a espresso. It’s about opening doorways, advocating for expertise, and sharing actual, trustworthy experiences. The following era of feminine leaders is watching and studying. It’s as much as us to ensure they really feel supported, empowered, and able to step ahead.
Photograph by Scott Webb
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