Nearly two-thirds of financial institutions plan to boost RegTech spend in 2026

By AI, Created 5:25 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Parker & Lawrence Research and RegTech Analyst released a new global report on RegTech on May 12, 2026, showing the sector has become a core compliance budget item for most firms. The report says 62.7% of financial institutions plan to increase RegTech spending in 2026, with financial crime tools leading adoption across the market.

Why it matters: - RegTech has moved from niche software to a core compliance function for most financial institutions. - The report says 95% of financial institutions have scaled enterprise use in at least one regulatory domain. - The findings point to rising demand for tools that can help firms manage growing regulatory complexity, digital assets, AI, and geopolitical risk. - The report also signals where budgets are likely to go next, with most institutions planning either new vendors, deeper use of existing tools, or in-house builds.

What happened: - Parker & Lawrence Research and RegTech Analyst launched The Global State of RegTech 2026 on May 12, 2026. - The report draws on surveys of 300 senior compliance decision-makers, input from 100 vendors, interviews with regulators and market experts, and bottom-up market analysis. - The report says 62.7% of financial institutions plan to increase RegTech spend in 2026. - The report says 48.3% plan to find new vendor solutions, 39% plan to expand use cases with existing vendors, and 27.7% plan to pursue in-house development. - A webinar on the report is scheduled for May 14, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. BST.

The details: - The report says the RegTech sector has grown in just over a decade from fewer than 100 solutions to a global, multi-billion-dollar industry. - The report created a simplified taxonomy with 24 subcategories across six risk and compliance domains. - The report uses that structure to build a RegTech Adoption Index measuring average adoption across the six domains. - Financial Crime scored 68, the highest in the index. - Financial Crime includes sanctions screening, KYC/KYB, fraud prevention and FRAML, and transaction monitoring. - Information & Technology Security scored 61. - Market Conduct scored 54. - The report spotlights enterprise risk management solution RiskSmart, transaction monitoring provider IMTF, eComms surveillance provider Fingerprint, fraud prevention and FRAML leader Velocity, KYC/KYB specialist Muinmos, trade surveillance provider Eventus, compliance assessment platform ArgusPro, regulatory intelligence platform Norm AI, regulatory change management company VIXIO, and sanctions screening tool Kharon. - The report is available for free here. - Registration for the webinar is open here. - The announcement also links to RegTech Analyst’s LinkedIn page here.

Between the lines: - The adoption data suggests compliance teams are under pressure to modernize faster than traditional manual or legacy approaches can support. - The report frames AI and automation as the main levers for value in compliance, alongside stronger regulatory change management. - Michael Lawrence said the long-term opportunity for RegTech is not just reducing manual workload, but turning risk and compliance into a more strategic, intelligence-led function. - Mariyan Dimitrov said firms are still struggling to cope with modern threats even as regulatory fines rise globally.

What’s next: - The May 14 webinar will break down the report’s findings on adoption, investment, maturity, AI, automation, and regulatory change frameworks. - The report’s market map and adoption index may give vendors and buyers a clearer view of which compliance domains are most mature and where spending could accelerate next. - As regulatory demands and technology risks keep rising, more firms appear likely to expand RegTech use through new purchases, broader deployments, or internal development.