From Firefighting to Future-Proofing: Horizon Scanning & Shared Responsibility

During our recent roundtable with senior compliance professionals from across the financial, technology, and payments sectors, one theme stood out: regulatory intelligence is no longer a solo sport. Compliance isn’t just a department responsibility - it’s a collective effort. The firms that excel are those that make horizon scanning a shared muscle across the organisation.

This blog series, From Firefighting to Future-Proofing, captures six key themes that emerged from those conversations - as well as some notable soundbites from guests. The first: the constant tension between being reactive and proactive in compliance.

Compliance Isn’t a Solo Job

In today’s fast-moving regulatory landscape, no single team can monitor every jurisdiction, policy shift, and enforcement trend. Leaders at our roundtable shared stories that highlight the power of distributed intelligence:

“Why would we be possessive about scanning? If my sales guy in the UAE hears something before I do, great - tell me! That’s 450 people scanning for me.”

This approach reframes compliance from a reactive function to a proactive network. Every employee, in every region, becomes a potential source of early warning. The result is faster detection of risks and a more informed response strategy.

Learning from the Best

Some regions are starting to set an example of what shared regulatory awareness can look like. The UK, in particular, was cited for its innovative approach:

“It’s the only place I’ve seen where regulators map a three-year plan across agencies. It gives you a genuine outlook.”

A forward-looking framework like this gives businesses an early view of what’s coming, allowing them to align strategy, allocate resources, and identify potential gaps long before regulations are enforced.

Collaboration Across Functions

Horizon scanning works best when it’s integrated into the broader organization. This means breaking down silos and ensuring compliance interacts with:

• Sales and business development: frontline staff often hear early signals from clients and partners.
• Product and innovation teams: early involvement ensures that new offerings comply with emerging rules.
• Legal and risk management: combining regulatory awareness with risk frameworks strengthens decision-making.

By sharing responsibility across functions, compliance becomes a facilitator of business agility rather than a bottleneck.

Practical Steps for Shared Scanning

Roundtable participants recommended several practices for building a collective compliance radar:

1. Create simple reporting channels for employees to flag regulatory news.
2. Reward early detection by recognizing contributions from non-compliance functions.
3. Maintain a central intelligence hub to track updates, assess impact, and communicate actions quickly.
4. Leverage technology for automated monitoring but combine it with human insight to avoid missing context-specific nuances.

The goal isn’t to eliminate surprises but to increase the likelihood that your organization hears about them first.

From Firefighting to Future-Proofing

Shared responsibility transforms compliance from a reactive firefight into a proactive intelligence function. Firms that embrace this model not only respond faster to change but also gain strategic advantage: better-informed decision-making, fewer surprises, and a culture of accountability across the business.

Key Takeaway

Our roundtable revealed a clear pattern: horizon scanning is strongest when it’s everyone’s job, not just compliance’s. Future-proofing compliance requires building a culture where intelligence is shared, insights are acted upon, and regulatory awareness permeates the organization - from the boardroom to the frontline.

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