New Research Estimates Global RegTech Market at $245bn as AI Accelerates Transformation of Risk and Compliance
- Michael Lawrence
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
New research from Parker & Lawrence Research and RegTech Analyst estimates the global RegTech market has reached a conservative total addressable market (TAM) of $245.4 billion, reflecting the growing role of technology within modern risk and compliance functions.
The findings come from The Global State of RegTech 2026, a new annual research initiative combining global surveys of 300 senior risk and compliance decision-makers and 100 RegTech vendors, alongside market modelling, interviews and domain analysis across financial services.
The report argues that RegTech has evolved far beyond a niche compliance category, becoming increasingly central to how financial institutions manage operational complexity, scale AI adoption and respond to mounting regulatory pressure.
The research found that:
95% of financial institutions report scaled enterprise use of RegTech in at least one regulatory domain
62.7% of firms plan to increase RegTech spending in 2026
Financial institutions surveyed alone reported $2.37bn of expected 2026 RegTech spend
RegTech vendors raised more than $5bn in disclosed funding during 2025
AI agents and agentic automation are expected to become one of the largest areas of investment within risk and compliance environments
The estimated market size includes spending across Financial Crime, Compliance Management, Market Conduct, Resilience, Information & Technology Security and ESG technology.
Michael Lawrence, Co-founder of Parker & Lawrence Research, said:
“RegTech has reached a point where it is no longer optional infrastructure for financial institutions. As firms deal with more regulatory complexity, more cross-border operations and growing pressure to deploy AI safely, risk and compliance technology is becoming central to how the business operates and grows.”
The report also highlights a growing strategic shift in how firms view risk and compliance functions more broadly. Rather than operating solely as reactive control functions, the research suggests that many organisations are beginning to position risk and compliance as real-time strategic infrastructure supporting growth, resilience and AI adoption.
Despite strong momentum, the research identifies persistent structural barriers to adoption, particularly around legacy infrastructure, fragmented data environments and integration complexity. More than half of financial institutions surveyed cited legacy systems as a significant barrier to adopting third-party RegTech solutions.
The report launch is being followed by a webinar hosted with Vixio on Thursday 14 May, exploring the key findings including how regulatory change management and AI-driven compliance technologies are reshaping the future of financial services.
The full report is available at: https://fintech.global/about/the-global-state-of-regtech-2026/
Media Contacts
Michael Lawrence
Co-founder
Parker & Lawrence Research
Mariyan Dimitrov
Director of Research
FinTech Global