What is RegTech? Why It’s Redefining Compliance in Asia

September 1, 2025

Education , News

The Rising Cost of Compliance

Compliance is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today. The financial impact is enormous: global financial institutions spend more than US$270 billion annually on compliance. Since the 2007–2008 financial crisis, banks worldwide have paid over US$321 billion in fines for regulatory breaches, ranging from AML failures to sanctions violations.[1]

Anti-money laundering enforcement continues to intensify. In 2023, regulators issued US$6.6 billion in AML-related fines, with crypto and payments firms accounting for an increasing share.[2]

Against this backdrop, manual, paper-driven processes are no longer fit for purpose. Businesses need faster, more reliable ways to stay on top of regulatory demands. This is where RegTech comes in.

What We Mean by RegTech

RegTech, short for “Regulatory Technology,” refers to the use of technology to help businesses meet their compliance requirements. It leverages automation, data analytics, and digital tools to streamline compliance, making it faster, more cost-effective, and more accurate.

The idea took root after the global financial crisis, when regulators introduced tougher rules on risk management, reporting, and transparency. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority popularised the term in 2015, while Singapore and Hong Kong had pioneered regulatory sandboxes [3] to encourage innovation.

Today, RegTech has moved from a niche concept to a global industry, playing a central role in how firms manage risk.

A Growing Market

The global RegTech market was valued at US$15.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed US$70 billion by 2030, growing at a rate of more than 18% annually.[4]

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region. Complex regulations, language barriers, and high volumes of cross-border trade make the case for RegTech particularly strong in markets like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Why RegTech Matters

Four main factors are driving adoption:

Regulatory complexity: Each jurisdiction has its own standards. Managing them manually creates duplication, delays, and a higher risk.
Stricter enforcement: Record fines highlight regulators’ impatience with outdated compliance systems.
Operational cost: Compliance teams are expensive and hard to scale. Automation reduces the cost per check while maintaining accuracy.
Digital business models: Fintechs, PSPs, and digital banks cannot afford a week-long onboarding. Instant checks are now essential.

Core Applications of RegTech

KYC and KYB Verifying individuals and companies at onboarding.
Transaction monitoring Detecting suspicious activity across high volumes of transactions.
Regulatory reporting: Automating filings to meet deadlines and reduce errors.
UBO mapping: Identifying ultimate beneficial owners hidden behind layered ownership structures.
Data Protection: Managing compliance with laws Such as GDPR and PDPA.

AsiaVerify in Practice

AsiaVerify has developed RegTech solutions tailored to the realities of Asia’s fragmented regulatory landscape. These examples illustrate how technology is transforming compliance in practice:

A Single API for Cross-Border Onboarding Expanding into multiple Asian markets typically involves navigating different registry systems, data formats, and onboarding standards. AsiaVerify built a unified KYB API covering 13 countries, including Singapore, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. This replaced fragmented workflows with a single integration, cutting onboarding from weeks to hours and reducing KYB setup costs by around 40%.
Extending Verification to Sole Proprietors in Hong Kong Sole proprietors comprise a significant portion of Hong Kong’s economy, but they have traditionally been challenging to verify due to manual document uploads and lengthy turnaround times. AsiaVerify introduced automated KYB checks for sole traders, reducing verification from days to minutes. This allowed payment providers and digital wallets to onboard smaller merchants in the gig economy and e-commerce sectors quickly and safely.
Closing Gaps in the Philippines and Indonesia These two markets are among the most complex in Southeast Asia, with scattered data sources and inconsistent reporting standards. AsiaVerify consolidated multiple registries, including corporate and tax databases, into harmonised, real-time profiles. Financial institutions can now onboard SMEs with greater confidence and manage risk in two of the region’s busiest payment corridors.
Bringing Transparency to Ownership in Vietnam Vietnam is known for its opaque ownership structures and complex shareholding, which make it difficult to identify the individuals behind a company. AsiaVerify developed an automated UBO mapping system that parses shareholder hierarchies across both local and foreign entities. This provides financial institutions with a clearer view of beneficial ownership, helps them meet FATF standards, and offers a digital audit trail for regulators.

Looking Ahead

The next phase of RegTech is being shaped by three trends:

AI-driven compliance will move firms from reactive monitoring to proactive risk prevention.
Blockchain records may support tamper-proof audit trails, particularly for cross-border payments and supply chains.
Tightening APAC rules on AML and corporate governance will make the adoption of RegTech unavoidable.

Why RegTech is the Future of Compliance in Asia

RegTech is no longer a “nice to have”. It is becoming a core part of how firms in Asia manage compliance. For companies operating in fragmented and high-growth markets, adopting the right technology means not only avoiding risk but also creating a competitive advantage through faster onboarding, lower costs, and stronger trust with regulators.