Article November 20, 2024

How dedicated teams help fintechs navigate regulatory compliance

In the race to disrupt financial services, regulatory compliance often feels like the hurdle no fintech founder wants to jump. Yet in 2024-2025, with a tsunami of new regulations hitting the industry, compliance capabilities aren't just a legal necessity—they're becoming a strategic differentiator. Building teams with the right regulatory expertise has never been more critical or challenging, especially for UK and European fintech companies.

IT Outsourcing Staff Augmentation Global Capability Centers

Our dedicated team model is proving invaluable for forward-thinking fintech companies looking to turn compliance from a burden into a competitive advantage.

The regulatory challenge for fintechs

Theregulatory landscape for financial technology companies is undergoing its most significant transformation in years. Consider what's currently on the horizon:

01 DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)

02 PSD3 (Payment Services Directive 3)

03 CRR III (Capital Requirements Regulation)

04 ESG Compliance

Coming into full effect in January 2025, DORA introduces comprehensive requirements for digital operational resilience, demanding robust testing, risk management, and incident reporting from all financial entities and their critical tech providers.

Building on open banking foundations, PSD3 expands access to customer financial data while introducing stricter security measures and new requirements for payment service providers.

Implementing the final elements of the Basel III framework, CRR III introduces more sophisticated approaches to credit, market, and operational risk—directly impacting lending platforms and investment apps.

New sustainability reporting requirements demand comprehensive ESG disclosures, impacting everything from investment products to corporate governance.

For early-stage and growth-stage fintechs alike, these regulatory demands create a difficult balancing act. As one fintech CTO told us:

When you're racing to achieve product-market fit or scale quickly, dedicating significant resources to compliance can feel like taking your foot off the accelerator.

Yet the consequences of deprioritising compliance are severe:

Financial penalties that can cripple growth-stage companies
Reputational damage that erodes customer and investor trust
Operational disruptions from regulatory enforcement actions
Market access limitations when compliance gaps prevent expansion

Why compliance-ready talent matters

The challenge isn't just understanding the regulations—it's integrating compliance thinking throughout your product and engineering teams.

Compliance as a product feature

Modern compliance isn't a separate function; it's woven into the fabric of product design. Take the implementation of DORA's requirements:

Product teams need to design features with operational resilience in mind
Security engineers must implement appropriate threat monitoring
DevOps teams need to build incident response mechanisms
QA specialists must test for compliance scenarios

Each function requires team members who understand the technical requirements and the regulatory context.

The in-house hiring challenge

Building this expertise internally presents significant challenges:

Scarcity of talent: Professionals who understand both fintech and regulation are among the most sought-after in the industry
Cost pressure: Regulatory specialists command premium salaries in major financial centres
Retention challenges: The competitive market makes these specialists difficult to retain
Knowledge currency: Regulations evolve constantly, requiring ongoing training and development

As Nikolay Penchev, a Software Engineer at Funding Circle team at Nortal, noted:

The nearshore advantage

This is where nearshore teams in Poland and Bulgaria offer a compelling solution. These regions feature:

Strong financial services expertise: A tradition of excellence in banking and financial infrastructure
Robust regulatory knowledge: Deep understanding of EU and UK regulatory frameworks
Technical proficiency: World-class engineering talent at competitive rates
Cultural alignment: Similar working styles and business values to Western European teams

How Nortal's dedicated teams help fintechs stay ahead

We have developed a specialized approach to building dedicated teams that help fintechs navigate the regulatory landscape while maintaining their innovation momentum.

Custom-built teams with fintech regulatory expertise

Unlike generic outsourcing, we build teams tailored explicitly to fintech compliance needs:

Compliance-aware developers who understand regulatory implications of code decisions
Security specialists with financial services experience
QA engineers trained in compliance testing scenarios
DevOps professionals experienced with regulated deployment environments

As Richard Ashworth, Head of Engineering at Funding Circle, observed:

Nortal have played a major role in building our engineering teams. They've helped us recruit exceptional engineers, provided our teams with the space and resources to do their best work, and enabled us to feel part of the engineering community in Bulgaria. Putting the effort in upfront to really understand what we need is a key reason that working together has been so successful.

Richard Ashworth
Head of Engineering, Funding Circle

Seamless integration with existing teams

For compliance to be effective, it can't exist in a silo. Our model ensures that dedicated teams integrate smoothly with your existing processes:

Matching work styles and methodologies to align with your team's approach
Communication protocols that create transparency across locations
Tool compatibility for seamless collaboration
Cultural alignment to foster genuine teamwork

Simon Tarry, Head of Engineering at Funding Circle, emphasized this integration:

Working with Nortal is awesome. They find and source talented and motivated engineers and provide office and HR resources to help our people have a great onboarding experience and feel at home. Communication is quick and effective, and we have a really smooth and fast interviewing process.

Simon Tarry
Head of Engineering, Funding Circle

Flexible scaling to adapt to regulatory changes

Perhaps the greatest advantage of our dedicated teams model is the ability to scale in response to changing regulatory demands:

Rapid team expansion when new regulations require additional expertise
Specialized skill addition to address specific compliance requirements
Knowledge transfer between team members to build organizational capability
Resource optimization to focus on the most critical compliance priorities

From compliance burden to competitive advantage

Forward-thinking fintechs are discovering that strong compliance capabilities don't just reduce risk, they create strategic advantages.

Enhanced trust and credibility

Demonstrating robust compliance processes:

Builds customer confidence in an industry where trust is paramount
Attracts enterprise clients with strict vendor requirements
Reassures investors concerned about regulatory risks
Establishes credibility with regulators for future interactions

Accelerated partnerships and integrations

Fintechs with strong compliance capabilities:

Close partnerships with regulated institutions more quickly
Reduce due diligence friction in procurement processes
Minimize integration delays related to compliance concerns
Become preferred partners for compliance-sensitive functions

Funding and valuation benefits

Investors increasingly recognize the value of compliance capabilities:

Reduced regulatory risk translates to higher valuations
Due diligence processes progress more smoothly
Compliance maturity demonstrates management quality
Regulatory strategy becomes a positive investment narrative

Why outsourcing regulatory compliance talent is strategic

Rather than merely filling talent gaps, outsourcing compliance capabilities to dedicated teams represents a strategic approach:

Focus on core differentiation: Your in-house team can concentrate on unique value propositions
External perspective: Dedicated teams bring cross-industry insights and best practices
Scalable expertise: Access specialized knowledge without long-term commitments
Reduced organizational complexity: Streamline compliance management through a trusted partner

As Georgi Kostov, Tech Lead at the Funding Circle team at Nortal, reflected:

Future-proofing your regulatory strategy

The fintech regulatory landscape will only grow more complex in the coming years. Success will depend not just on compliance with today's regulations but on building adaptable teams that can evolve with the regulatory environment.

Our dedicated team model provides a sustainable approach to this challenge. It combines specialized expertise, cultural alignment, and flexible scaling to turn compliance from a necessary burden into a genuine competitive advantage.

Ready to explore how dedicated tech teams can strengthen your regulatory strategy?

Contact us to discuss your specific compliance challenges and discover how we can help you build a team that makes compliance a strategic strength.

We help organizations overcome talent shortages by building & operating cross-border IT & Engineering teams. With an industry-leading 4.3% attrition rate and over 700 experts across multiple tech hubs, we specialize in creating dedicated teams that deliver exceptional value while minimizing risk.