Mind the Gap: Why External Legal Counsel Isn’t Enough for Modern Compliance

In the fast-paced world of payments regulation—from PSD3 and AMLD6 to evolving KYC, PCI DSS, and DORA—compliance teams face an unprecedented challenge: staying ahead of change while maintaining operational efficiency. Many teams instinctively turn to external legal counsel for proactive regulatory monitoring. Legal advice is undoubtedly valuable, offering broad guidance across jurisdictions and frameworks. Yet for businesses operating in the payments space, relying solely on external counsel can create knowledge gaps that slow progress and increase risk.

The Limits of External Legal Knowledge

Top-tier law firms offer expertise, but it is often broad rather than deeply specialised. Legal counsel may provide insights into regulatory principles or draft advisory opinions, but they cannot always provide the depth of payments-specific expertise your team needs. Their guidance may not cover the practical nuances of implementing compliance controls, monitoring digital transactions, or integrating regulatory requirements into fast-moving operational processes.

Additionally, legal advice can lag behind real-time developments. Regulations are evolving at record speed, and guidance from external counsel may arrive days or even weeks after changes occur. In a digital-first compliance environment, this delay can leave teams acting on outdated information, weakening readiness and slowing response times. For businesses trying to expand, launch new products, or undergo audits, this knowledge lag creates friction, slows decision-making, and increases exposure to regulatory risk.

Closing the Gaps with Specialised Expertise

The solution lies in complementing legal counsel with specialised, up-to-date compliance expertise embedded within your organisation. Modern compliance teams are increasingly turning to automated, expert-verified tools that track regulatory developments across PSD3, AMLD6, KYC, PCI DSS, and DORA. These tools provide real-time updates, ensuring that teams never miss critical changes and can respond immediately.

Automated systems allow compliance teams to access deep, contextual insights in seconds rather than waiting for scheduled legal consultations. Whether evaluating a new transaction, preparing for an audit, or designing internal controls, teams can leverage up-to-the-minute regulatory intelligence to make informed decisions confidently. This approach ensures that knowledge gaps left by external counsel are filled, enabling faster, more strategic action.

Efficiency, Cost Control, and Agility

Relying solely on external counsel for continuous oversight is not only slower but also more expensive. Repeated engagements for monitoring, advice, and updates accumulate unpredictable fees, consuming resources that could otherwise be invested in automation, control optimisation, or strategic initiatives. Automated compliance platforms reduce this dependency, providing predictable costs and freeing legal teams to focus on complex, high-value matters that truly require human expertise.

Moreover, internalising specialised knowledge enhances agility. Compliance teams can respond immediately to regulatory developments, conduct impact analyses, and adjust internal processes without waiting for external guidance. This speed is crucial during audits, product launches, or investigations, where delays can stall growth or expose organisations to risk. By bridging the knowledge gap, teams gain operational control, faster decision-making, and strategic foresight.

Building Long-Term Resilience

Embedding payments-specific expertise internally also strengthens institutional knowledge. Teams learn to interpret regulatory changes, apply best practices, and develop robust processes that scale with business growth. Over time, this reduces reliance on external counsel, making compliance operations self-sufficient, agile, and resilient. In a landscape where PSD3, AMLD6, KYC, PCI DSS, and DORA evolve continuously, this approach ensures that compliance remains proactive rather than reactive.

Legal counsel remains an essential partner, providing broad guidance and specialised advice when needed. However, relying exclusively on external counsel leaves critical knowledge gaps, delays responsiveness, and increases operational risk. The most effective compliance teams complement legal advice with automated, expert-verified tools that deliver deep, real-time insights and payments-specific expertise.

By filling these knowledge gaps, organisations reduce dependency on external support, enhance operational agility, and maintain readiness in a constantly changing regulatory environment. In the world of payments compliance, the teams that bridge the gap between broad legal advice and specialised, real-time expertise are the ones that stay ahead—ensuring compliance becomes a driver of growth rather than a source of friction.

‍

Is legal counsel causing a lag?

It’s time for a smarter approach. Download your handy 2 pager to discover how best practice teams bring the regulatory responsibility in-house to rescue costs and increase control.

‍