Compliance Risk Management in 2026

In this episode, Dean Stockford and Len Suzio discuss what compliance risk management should look like in 2026 as financial institutions face rising fraud, cyber threats, AI-related risks, third-party exposure, and an uncertain regulatory environment. Dean argues that compliance functions can no longer remain purely advisory and instead must evolve into active risk management and oversight roles, with stronger risk assessments, enhanced monitoring, root-cause analysis, more targeted training, better frontline tools, and closer alignment between risks, controls, and institutional risk appetite. He emphasizes that a strong compliance culture begins with understanding the organization’s structure, risk tolerance, and operational realities, then building a more robust compliance management system around those insights. The episode closes with Dean’s view of the biggest compliance risk areas in 2026, including data privacy and cybersecurity, AML/CTF, digital banking, AI compliance, third-party risk, regulatory fragmentation, and the growing cost of top-tier compliance talent.

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