Hassan Zebdeh, Financial Crime and Payment Advisor at Eastnets, outlines how banks can achieve stronger compliance outcomes by embracing more efficient, connected ways of working. 

Compliance has become one of the most resource-intensive functions inside modern banks. Year after year, institutions invest more people, more technology and more time into meeting expanding regulatory expectations, yet many find themselves no closer to achieving meaningful reductions in risk. Or cost. 

At the same time, financial crime is evolving daily, payments are moving in real time and regulators are increasingly focused on outcomes rather than process. While effort may increase, effectiveness doesn’t always follow suit. The systems and processes that once supported compliance in a pre-AI age are now being stretched to their limits, revealing a widening gap between what institutions put in and what they get back. 

This growing imbalance raises a critical question for the industry: how financially sustainable is the current approach to compliance, and what needs to change if banks are to keep pace with risk and regulation? 

The growing strain on compliance

Regulatory compliance can now account for more than 13% of operating costs, yet many banks continue to struggle with the same operational challenges. For most, rising spend has become the default setting for keeping up with regulatory obligations, rather than a reliable way to improve how risk is managed in practice. 

Part of the challenge lies in how compliance has evolved. In recent years alone, banks have had to absorb a wave of new and evolving requirements – from the EU’s AML Package and DORA’s operational obligations to global FATCA/CRS reporting deadlines and many other regulations globally. The response to these changes has often involved layering new controls, systems and processes onto existing ones, adding complexity without fundamentally rethinking how compliance has changed. 

The result is an environment that’s increasingly fragmented and difficult to scale. Compliance teams are expected to deliver faster detection, clearer auditability and stronger risk differentiation, while still relying on operating systems shaped by outdated processes and disconnected data. And yet, a single alert can take anywhere up to 22 hours to action – while some instant payments schemes require decisions in seconds, other nations still operate within minutes or longer. Sanctions lists are also changing, with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposing sanctions on [https://”/]over 1,300 individuals and entities in 2025 alone, with this likely to double in 2026​. Banks are having to manage risk continuously, even as they attempt to modernise operations that were never designed for today’s pace, landscape or scale. 

Making matters harder, many firms are struggling to find and retain professionals with the right mix of legal, technical and operational expertise to work on these older platforms too. Experienced professionals are retiring en-masse, while nearly half of the new entrants lack the right experience needed to step into these roles effectively. Then again, why would the modern workforce want to work on outdated systems when they can choose new, more agile players within the industry? 

Taken together, this all culminates into a costly endeavour. There is little being done on a broader scale to address the underlying mismatch between rising complexity and operational capacity. Therefore, to keep pace with risk and regulation, we need an entirely different approach; one that focuses more on how compliance is designed, connected and executed. 

Reimagining compliance for a real-time world

For banks willing to rethink how compliance operates, this moment presents a clear opportunity to not only strengthen oversight, but to escape a cycle of rising cost and diminishing returns. As regulatory expectations rise and financial infrastructure accelerates, institutions have a chance to move beyond reactive expansion and build compliance frameworks that are both more effective and more economically sustainable. 

An efficiency-driven compliance framework is central to breaking this cycle. Rather than increasing headcount or layering new processes each time risk or regulation evolves, the focus needs to be on improving how compliance work is performed. By reducing duplication and allowing better decision-making at scale, efficiency helps banks contain costs while improving outcomes, addressing the root cause of the compliance cost trap. The question becomes; how can organisations unlock these improvements? In practice, this shift is anchored in four core capabilities that together redefine modern compliance. 

First, automation helps decouple compliance effectiveness from both headcount growth and large-scale system change. By streamlining the likes of data collection, enrichment and alert handling on top of existing environments, automation reduces manual effort without requiring a full ‘rip and replace’ approach of legacy platforms. This lowers the cost of day-to-day compliance activity while improving consistency and investigation speed. 

Next, risk-based approaches make sure resources are applied where they make the most difference. In practice, this means deeper scrutiny for higher-risk customers, geographies or transaction patterns, while allowing faster, lighter-touch processing for low-risk activity. With AI models and agents, banks can learn from historical patterns, detect subtle anomalies and adapt to evolving fraud and financial crime typologies, using a risk-based approach to automatically reduce false positives. But by tailoring controls to actual exposure, institutions can improve outcomes while reducing unnecessary operational burden. 

The third capability is streamlined reporting. This can be a time-consuming component of compliance, but automated, standardised reporting helps institutions meet regulatory obligations more efficiently, particularly across jurisdictions. By producing consistent, explainable and audit-ready outputs, financial institutions can reduce the recurring cost of manual reconciliation, remediation and regulatory engagement – all while strengthening compliance confidence. 

Finally, interoperability underpins efficiency. Compliance systems rarely operate in isolation and replacing them outright is too costly and disruptive. Interoperable environments, however, allow institutions to modernise incrementally – connecting existing systems, eliminating duplication and extending the value of current investments – without downtime or operational risk. 

Together, these four capabilities help shift compliance away from perpetual cost growth and toward a more stable, scalable model. Efficiency simply becomes the next frontier. Not as a shortcut, but as the mechanism through which banks strengthen defences, control costs and remain resilient in an increasingly demanding regulatory environment. 

Escaping the cost trap

As regulation becomes more outcome-focused and financial crime continues to evolve, banks are being pushed to reconsider not how much they spend on compliance, but how effectively that investment is put to work. 

Efficiency now represents the next frontier of compliance. And those institutions that rethink how compliance is designed, connected and scaled will be better positioned to strengthen defences, control cost growth and respond faster to change.  

The opportunity ahead is to move compliance beyond perpetual expansion and toward purposeful design. For banks, regulators and the wider financial ecosystem, the objective is clear: build compliance frameworks that are fit for the future, resilient by default and capable of keeping pace with risk – all without letting cost become the limiting factor. 

By Rebecca Sutherland, CEO and Founder of HarbarSix

There’s a word that often makes people shift a little in their seats. Assertiveness. It can sound sharp, maybe even a bit harsh, like something that belongs in boardrooms filled with ego or in negotiation books gathering dust on someone’s shelf. But in truth, assertiveness, when you really understand it, is one of the most compassionate tools we have as leaders.

Because at its core, assertiveness isn’t about being pushy. It’s about being clear.

And when you’re building something, a business, a team, a dream that lives outside the ordinary, that kind of clarity becomes essential. Without it, you end up drifting, making decisions that don’t feel quite right, saying yes when you mean no, and slowly watching the thing you once felt lit up by become a source of tension or exhaustion.

I’ve seen it happen more than once. A brilliant, creative founder full of drive and vision, slowly ground down by too many compromises, too much people-pleasing, too little space to breathe. They don’t lack skill or ambition. What they’re missing is that anchor, the ability to be assertive without feeling like they have to apologise for it.

So, let’s unpack that, because I think we need to talk about how to lead from a place that’s both strong and soft. Firm but open and rooted in who you are.

Assertiveness starts with self-trust

Before you can speak clearly to others, you must be clear with yourself. What do you stand for? What kind of culture are you trying to build? What do you value, not just on a branding level, but deep in your bones?

Because if you don’t know that, you’ll find yourself pulled in all directions. You’ll agree to partnerships that don’t serve you, hire people based on panic rather than alignment, and find it hard to hold boundaries when the stakes feel high.

But when you do know—when you’ve taken the time to understand what really matters to you—it becomes easier to communicate it, calmly and confidently, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Saying what you mean isn’t unkind—it’s respectful

There’s a misconception, especially among founders who want to be “good” leaders, that being direct is somehow abrasive. That if you’re too clear, you might upset people. But in my experience, the opposite is true.

When you wrap your truth in too many layers of softening or delay saying the hard thing because you’re worried about how it will land, you actually create more confusion, not less. People want to know where they stand. Your team, your investors, your clients—they respect leaders who can speak with warmth and certainty.

You don’t need to bark orders or dominate a room. But you do need to be able to say, “This isn’t working for me,” or “This direction doesn’t feel right,” or even, “I’ve changed my mind.” That kind of honesty is a form of care. It protects your energy, and it gives everyone around you a clearer playing field.

Boundaries aren’t barriers—they’re invitations to trust

One of the most powerful forms of assertiveness is knowing when to say no. Or not yet. Or not like this.

As founders, we’re often wired to keep giving—to clients, to our team, to the business itself. But that constant giving, without boundaries, leads to burnout. And more than that, it models a kind of unsustainable leadership where overextending becomes the norm.

Boundaries, when set with intention, are not walls. They’re signals. They say, “This is how I work best,” or “This is what I need to stay at my best,” or “Here’s the line where my role ends and yours begins.” And far from pushing people away, they create the safety and trust needed for real collaboration.

Not everyone will like it—and that’s okay

Here’s the part that might sting a little: not everyone will like your assertiveness. Some people will bristle when you stop bending over backwards. Others may be used to you saying yes to everything, and might struggle when you start to reclaim your space.

Let them. Your job isn’t to be liked by everyone. Your job is to build something honest, sustainable, and true. And the people who are meant to walk alongside you? They’ll stay, in fact, they’ll probably thank you for the clarity.

Practice before you need it

Like any skill, assertiveness gets easier with practice. Start small. Have that conversation you’ve been avoiding. Say no to the next thing that doesn’t feel aligned. Express a need clearly without over-explaining. And then do it again. Not perfectly, just consistently.

If you’re not used to it, it might feel clunky at first. That’s okay. Clarity is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.

The most powerful leaders are not the loudest

They’re not the ones who dominate meetings or chase visibility for its own sake. They’re the ones who know who they are. Who can sit in discomfort without losing their footing. Who can say the hard thing with softness and stay true to their vision when the noise gets loud.

Assertiveness isn’t about power over others—it’s about being in your own power. And when you lead from that place, it changes everything.

For your business. For your team. And most importantly, for you.

Drew Tozer

We live in a technologically advanced world with artificial intelligence, electric cars, and advancing space travel.

But our primary strategy for heating homes is still “burning stuff”.

We pump gas, propane, or oil into a traditional furnace and light the fuel on fire to keep houses warm. It’s an archaic solution—like sending a fax instead of an email.

Furnaces are popular because the majority of HVAC is replaced in emergency “no heat” situations. The default option becomes a like-for-like replacement (swapping an old furnace for a new furnace) because it’s quick and easy.

HVAC is a top 5 most expensive purchase that a homeowner will make in their lifetime, and we rush the decision by ignoring equipment until it breaks.

Choosing the right HVAC system is an opportunity to improve homes. HVAC is the biggest factor for indoor comfort and air quality, and the chance to pick the right system only comes around every 15 to 20 years.

Heat pumps operate like two-way air conditioners. In the winter, they take heat (energy) from the outside air and use it to heat homes.

So, what makes heat pumps the right decision?

Because electric products are just… better

Consumer experiences matter, and electric products create better experiences. The quality of electric appliances (like heat pumps, electric vehicles, induction cooking, and electric yard tools) surpassed gas alternatives in recent years.

For now, there continues to be a place for gas appliances in niche situations. But the overwhelming consensus is that electric products are better than gas products

A few examples:

1. Oversized furnaces are the primary cause of comfort issues. Heat pumps are the direct solution—they can be properly sized to match the heating and cooling needs of a house, improving comfort and eliminating hot and cold rooms.
2. EVs are more fun to drive, while being quicker, quieter, more convenient, and lower maintenance. The stress of “range anxiety” has largely disappeared with better infrastructure and battery performance.
3. Electric yard tools are quieter, safer, and lower maintenance than gas tools.
4. Gas stoves increase the risk of asthma in children. Induction is safer and healthier while offering similar control and faster boiling times.

The performance gap of electric over gas is growing. Every generation of electric products takes a leap forward while gas appliances stay largely the same.

Over the last decade, gas furnaces have increased from 90% to 97% efficiency. That’s the only change.

By comparison, cold climate heat pumps achieve efficiency ratings above 300% by moving heat instead of burning fuel to create heat. Heat pumps continue to improve, both in efficiency, reliability, and cold weather performance. They’re a proven success in cold climates like Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

Heat pumps can also be sized to provide the right amount of heating and cooling at any given time, and the lack of combustion eliminates the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks, and explosions.

A sustainable world is an electric world

The cost of ignoring climate change continues to grow.

There’s no way around it. Ignoring climate change won’t solve it.

The frequency and severity of wildfires in North America are a key example. Large parts of the US are becoming uninsurable as the damage risk becomes untenable for banks and insurance companies.

These aren’t political choices, it’s the free market working: climate change is bad for business.

When we choose to not take action, it increases pain and suffering without decreasing the economic burden. We’ll have to implement the same solutions, but we’ll have to pay more to rebuild and replace more infrastructure and homes along the way.

Delaying action is the more expensive choice.

Heat pumps are part of the solution because they create a path to sustainable heating. They can be powered by renewables, either on-site or within grids.

We have access to the cheapest source of electricity in human history: solar. We choose not to embrace and scale renewables for political reasons. It’s a people problem, not a technical one.

We’re fortunate that the sustainable option (heat pumps) is also the choice that improves the comfort, health, and safety of homes.

Energy (in)dependence matters

Heat pumps and renewables allow homeowners and countries to heat and power their homes with local energy. It makes homes and communities resilient against geopolitics and global energy costs.

A house can be entirely energy independent by combining a heat pump and electric appliances with rooftop solar and battery storage.

Conversely, you can’t extract and refine oil in your backyard. If you rely on combustion heating, then you’re dependent on the person or country that supplies your oil and gas. A situation that played out with Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

In the tenuous landscape of global politics, energy dependence is a risk.

Heat pumps are the future of heating and cooling because they create a path to sustainable heating powered by renewables. They create comfortable, healthy, sustainable homes that benefit from energy independence and improve consumer experiences.