As we approach 2026, the compliance landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, with top concerns highlighting the need for stronger governance, smarter technology, and better-trained people to navigate this evolving environment
Key insights:
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Compliance is becoming a technology arms race— Criminals are rapidly deploying AI, automation, and cryptocurrency to execute sophisticated fraud on a large scale, while many compliance departments remain stuck with legacy systems, creating a technological gap.
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AI represents a dual-edged sword for compliance — Organizations must strategically determine appropriate AI applications while maintaining rigorous human oversight and validation protocols.
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Regulatory fragmentation is creating operational complexity — The compliance environment is splintering, and this fragmentation demands creating near-real-time automated systems and abandoning manual compliance processes.
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The world of compliance and risk management is evolving quickly. Criminals, regulators, and markets are all moving faster, often powered by AI and digital innovation. As a result, compliance can no longer function as a static control department; rather, it must become an intelligent, tech-enabled risk partner to the business.
To examine this evolving terrain more deeply, the Thomson Reuters Institute has published a new digital report, 10 Global Compliance Concerns for 2026, that draws on interviews with compliance and other area experts to map out the critical challenges ahead and help determine what organizations need to do now to prepare.
10 critical risk areas
Based on extensive interviews with these experts, the report identifies 10 areas in which today’s compliance leaders should expect heightened scrutiny in 2026. These areas span tech-enabled fraud and scams, ethical AI use, crypto-assets entering mainstream finance, expanding data privacy obligations, and the professionalization of cybercrime.
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10 Global Compliance Concerns for 2026
The experts we interviewed also highlight shifting financial crime enforcement priorities, escalating sanctions and tariff risks, complex reporting requirements around ESG issues, third-party oversight challenges, and accelerating regulatory changes across AI, cybersecurity, climate, and digital assets.
Across all 10 areas, the specialists interviewed stress that organizations will need stronger governance, smarter technology, and better-trained people in order to keep pace.
Interestingly, several developments stand out as game-changers in the report. For example, fraud seems to be entering a new era, one in which criminals aggressively adopt AI, automation, and crypto to scale up attacks while many compliance teams still rely on outdated tools. Smaller financial institutions, fintechs, and digital platforms are particularly vulnerable without advanced monitoring and analytics capabilities, area experts explain.
“AI is a force multiplier for criminals, and they are exploiting that technology however they can,” says Urriolagoitia “Rio” Miner, the founder and CEO of FCI Tradecraft, adding that “banks and financial institutions tend to move slowly, but hopefully they will start incorporating more AI tools as well to fight back.”
The risks and opportunities of AI
AI itself presents both opportunity and risk on the compliance landscape. The experts interviewed urge organizations to think strategically about in which areas AI can enhance investigations, monitoring, and due diligence, and where it introduces unacceptable ethical or privacy concerns. Human oversight and robust validation remain essential.
Another potential development is that crypto is now mainstream, creating urgent demands on compliance officers to understand digital assets, stablecoins, and emerging regulatory frameworks. Experts emphasize that applying traditional risk-based approaches becomes far more complex when teams lack familiarity with blockchain activity and crypto-enabled crime patterns. Further, data privacy and cybersecurity stakes are rising as regulators grow increasingly intolerant of weak controls. Yet, technology is only half the solution, the area experts consulted note, and cultural factors and ongoing training are equally critical.
“AI technology presents tremendous opportunities for improving efficiency and reducing costs within compliance programs,” says Teresa Anaya, founder and director of AML Audit Advisory. However, she adds, “AI adoption must be approached thoughtfully and responsibly, and be conducted with expert human oversight.”
Finally, regulatory change itself is a structural risk. The volume, speed, and complexity of new requirements are outpacing many compliance teams’ manual processes. Organizations need to invest in scalable technology and automation so that their compliance teams can simply keep up, experts warn.
Priorities for action
The report concludes with practical priorities drawn from these expert insights. for example, organizations should refresh enterprise-wide compliance risk assessments and strengthen governance and accountability, especially around AI and vendors. And as mentioned, investing in modern compliance and automation technologies is critical, as is updating policies for emerging risk domains.
For boards, executives, and compliance leaders, the expert consensus is clear: 2026 will reward those organizations that treat compliance as a forward-looking strategic capability that is fully integrated with technology, risk, and business decision-making.
You can access
a full copy of the Thomson Reuters Institute’s new digital report, 10 Global Compliance Concerns for 2026, here
