The regulatory landscape for bridging lenders has reached unprecedented complexity. Recent research conducted by HFS Research has found that some lenders received up to 1,700 regulatory alerts in 2024, with a staggering 25% having direct business impact [1]. These alerts span multiple categories including consumer protection, anti-money laundering, capital requirements, and data privacy regulations—each requiring thorough analysis and implementation. This avalanche of compliance requirements is overwhelming traditional systems and creating significant operational burdens for lending teams across the UK and Europe.
More concerning still, only 51% of lenders currently feel fully prepared for compliance risk [2]. This readiness gap exposes nearly half of all financial institutions to potential penalties, reputational damage, and competitive disadvantage in an increasingly scrutinised market.
As we navigate through 2025—widely considered a 'rebuild year' for the lending sector [1]—bridging lenders face a critical decision: continue with manual, fragmented compliance approaches or embrace technological transformation to turn regulatory challenges into operational advantages.
The sheer volume of regulatory alerts facing bridging lenders in 2025 represents an existential challenge to traditional compliance approaches. The HFS Research survey revealed that some institutions are processing 1,700 alerts annually [1], leaving compliance teams drowning in regulatory updates that require analysis, prioritisation, and implementation.
This isn't merely about managing volume, it's about identifying which regulations have material impact on operations. The research specifically found that 25% of these alerts directly affect business processes [1], meaning lenders must develop sophisticated filtering mechanisms to separate critical requirements from background noise. These high-impact alerts typically involve changes to lending criteria, disclosure requirements, capital adequacy standards, and cross-border transaction rules—all of which can significantly disrupt operations if not properly implemented.
"A survey conducted by HFS Research has found that mortgage lenders are lagging behind in compliance as technology rapidly evolves, with some respondents revealing they received up to 1,700 regulatory alerts in 2024, 25% of which were with a direct business impact." [1]
Traditional compliance approaches—typically involving manual review, spreadsheet tracking, and siloed implementation—simply cannot scale to meet this challenge. The result is a growing backlog of unaddressed regulatory requirements, increasing the risk of non-compliance and potential enforcement actions.
What makes this particularly challenging for bridging lenders? The short-term nature of bridging finance creates additional complexity, as rapid deal execution must be balanced with thorough compliance checks across multiple jurisdictions and regulatory frameworks.
The concerning statistic that only 51% of lenders feel fully prepared for compliance risk [2] reveals a significant vulnerability in the sector. This readiness gap stems from several key factors that bridging lenders must address urgently.
First, many institutions continue to rely on outdated compliance systems that lack the sophistication to handle the complexity and volume of modern regulatory requirements. These legacy approaches often involve manual processes, disconnected systems, and reactive rather than proactive compliance strategies.
Second, the accelerating pace of regulatory change has outstripped many lenders' ability to adapt. With regulatory frameworks evolving rapidly across multiple jurisdictions, compliance teams struggle to stay current with requirements, let alone implement them effectively.
Third, there's often a disconnect between compliance functions and broader business operations. When compliance is treated as a separate, siloed function rather than an integrated part of the lending process, implementation becomes inefficient and effectiveness suffers.
How can bridging lenders assess their own readiness? Consider these key questions: Can your team process and implement regulatory changes without disrupting core lending operations? Do you have visibility into compliance status across your entire portfolio? Can you demonstrate compliance to regulators quickly and comprehensively when required?
As bridging lenders seek solutions to the compliance technology gap, agentic AI emerges as a transformative approach. This advanced technology merges GenAI's cognitive reasoning capabilities with automation's precision [3], creating systems that can intelligently process, analyse, and implement regulatory requirements.
Unlike traditional rule-based compliance systems, agentic AI can understand regulatory context, identify relevance to specific business operations, and prioritise implementation based on business impact. This represents a step-change in compliance capabilities, moving from reactive processing to proactive management.
For bridging lenders facing 1,700+ regulatory alerts annually, the benefits are substantial. Agentic AI can continuously monitor transactions, eliminating coverage gaps inherent in sample-based approaches and dramatically improving risk detection. This comprehensive monitoring capability is particularly valuable for financial institutions managing complex regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
What makes agentic AI particularly suitable for bridging lenders? The ability to process high volumes of regulatory information quickly aligns perfectly with the fast-paced nature of bridging finance, where deal execution speed is a competitive advantage that cannot be compromised by compliance delays.
A practical example of AI-powered compliance technology for bridging lenders is Kompliant, recently recognized in FinTech Global's 2025 DataTech50 list for its innovative approach to compliance and data management in financial services [17]. Kompliant's platform offers end-to-end compliance solutions specifically designed for financial institutions, including automated merchant onboarding, real-time underwriting, and continuous transaction monitoring. For bridging lenders dealing with high volumes of regulatory alerts, such platforms provide the intelligent infrastructure needed to streamline compliance processes while maintaining regulatory adherence.
Industry projections indicate that automation will reach 68% of mortgage operations by 2026 [1], signalling a fundamental shift in how compliance is managed. This transition from task-level automation to comprehensive operational coverage represents both an opportunity and a competitive necessity for bridging lenders.
The automation imperative extends beyond simple task automation to create an intuitive tech-to-ops cycle that blends technology, human expertise, and continuous improvement [1]. This integrated approach ensures that compliance processes become more efficient over time, adapting to new regulatory requirements and operational changes.
For bridging lenders, certain compliance functions benefit particularly from automation:
The path to 68% automation isn't without challenges. Bridging lenders must carefully prioritise automation investments, focusing first on high-volume, rule-based processes that deliver immediate efficiency gains. They must also ensure that automated systems integrate effectively with existing operations and that staff are trained to work alongside these new technologies.
How quickly should bridging lenders move toward automation? Given the projected industry benchmark of 68% by 2026 [1], institutions that delay risk falling behind competitors who can process regulatory requirements more efficiently and at lower cost.
A concrete example of compliance automation technology relevant to bridging lenders is Regly, a Miami-based compliance technology platform that recently launched its AI-powered compliance management and financial crime prevention solutions [18]. Developed by the team behind InnReg, a compliance consulting firm with a decade of experience serving innovative fintech clients, Regly's platform simplifies complex compliance tasks and automates financial crime preventative processes. For bridging lenders, solutions like Regly Compliance (which optimizes internal compliance workflows) and Regly FinCrime (which identifies financial crime risks) offer practical tools to automate compliance processes and manage the high volume of regulatory alerts more efficiently.
While technology is essential to addressing the compliance challenge, bridging lenders must recognise that effective compliance requires more than just sophisticated systems. It demands a compliance-first culture that permeates the entire organisation.
Clear governance structures and strong compliance frameworks that align with regulatory requirements form the foundation of this culture [4]. These structures must clearly define roles, responsibilities, and accountability for compliance across all levels of the organisation, from front-line lending teams to executive leadership.
"Advanced technologies like AI and machine learning can improve real-time monitoring, risk scoring and anomaly detection, and companies should consider clear governance structures and strong compliance frameworks that align with regulatory requirements," notes a recent industry analysis from BAI [4]. This highlights the critical intersection between technological solutions and organizational structures in effective compliance management.
Equally important is role-specific training that ensures all staff understand compliance requirements relevant to their functions [4]. This training should go beyond generic compliance awareness to provide practical guidance on implementing regulatory requirements in day-to-day operations.
Communication channels that facilitate the rapid dissemination of regulatory changes throughout the organisation are also critical. When new requirements emerge, all affected teams should be promptly informed and provided with clear implementation guidance.
For bridging lenders, building a compliance-first culture requires particular attention to the tension between deal execution speed and thorough compliance. The culture must value both commercial objectives and regulatory adherence, recognising that long-term success depends on balancing these priorities effectively.
As the complexity of regulatory compliance grows, bridging lenders increasingly recognise the value of strategic partnerships with compliance technology providers and regulatory experts. Industry projections indicate that full-service partnerships are expected to rise from 30% to 42% by 2026 [5], reflecting the growing importance of these collaborations.
These partnerships are increasingly measured by growth outcomes rather than cost [5], signalling a shift toward viewing compliance technology as a strategic investment rather than an operational expense. This perspective recognises that effective compliance management can create competitive advantages through improved efficiency, reduced risk, and enhanced reputation.
For bridging lenders, particularly those without extensive in-house compliance resources, partnerships offer several key advantages:
When evaluating potential compliance technology partners, bridging lenders should consider several key factors:
A notable example of strategic partnership in the compliance technology space is Kompliant's recognition in FinTech Global's 2025 DataTech50 list [17]. This recognition underscores Kompliant's commitment to providing cutting-edge compliance solutions that empower financial institutions to streamline operations, reduce risk, and enhance customer experiences. For bridging lenders seeking strategic partnerships to enhance their compliance capabilities, companies like Kompliant represent potential collaborators who can provide the specialized expertise and advanced technologies needed to navigate the complex regulatory environment.
As bridging lenders face the challenge of processing 1,700 regulatory alerts annually, real-time compliance capabilities are becoming increasingly critical. Traditional compliance approaches, which often involve after-the-fact controls and overnight processing, create dangerous delays in identifying and addressing regulatory risks [16].
"Legacy compliance systems are often not built for real time due to static rules, overnight processing, and manual reviews, which create dangerous delays in identifying risk," explains Alex Rees in a recent analysis on Finextra [16]. This creates a significant gap between the speed of financial transactions and the pace of compliance monitoring—a gap that is particularly problematic for bridging lenders, whose business model depends on rapid transaction processing.
The shift toward real-time compliance is being driven by both regulatory pressure and technological advancement. Regulators increasingly expect financial institutions to assess transactions as they occur, rather than reviewing them after the fact [16]. At the same time, new technologies are making real-time compliance feasible, allowing firms to make screening decisions in real time without introducing unacceptable delays in transaction processing.
For bridging lenders, implementing real-time compliance requires modern infrastructure that is cloud-native, API-first, and adaptable to rapidly changing rulesets [16]. This infrastructure must be capable of processing high volumes of transactions and regulatory requirements simultaneously, ensuring that compliance checks do not become a bottleneck in the lending process.
The benefits of real-time compliance for bridging lenders are substantial. By identifying and addressing regulatory issues as they occur, lenders can reduce the risk of non-compliance, avoid costly remediation efforts, and maintain the speed and efficiency that clients expect. Real-time compliance also provides greater visibility into regulatory status, allowing lenders to make more informed decisions about risk and resource allocation.
Industry experts have designated 2025 as a 'rebuild year' for lenders [1], with many prioritising modernisation of platforms, AI and automation, and digital tools. For bridging lenders facing the challenge of 1,700 regulatory alerts, this presents a critical opportunity to transform compliance capabilities.
Creating an effective compliance technology roadmap requires a structured approach that balances immediate needs with long-term objectives. The process should begin with a thorough assessment of current compliance capabilities, identifying specific gaps and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.
Based on this assessment, bridging lenders should prioritise investments using a risk-based framework that considers both the likelihood and potential impact of compliance failures. High-risk areas—those where non-compliance could result in significant penalties or reputational damage—should receive priority attention.
Implementation timelines should be realistic, recognising that compliance transformation is a journey rather than a single project. Many lenders find success with a phased approach that delivers incremental improvements while building toward comprehensive compliance capabilities.
What technologies should feature in your roadmap? While specific needs will vary, most bridging lenders should consider:
As you develop your roadmap, consider how kennek's end-to-end lending management platform can help bridge the compliance technology gap. With its focus on process automation and integrated workflows, kennek enables bridging lenders to streamline compliance processes while maintaining the speed and flexibility that defines successful bridging finance.
Success metrics should be clearly defined from the outset, focusing not just on technology implementation but on tangible compliance outcomes. These might include reduced time to process regulatory alerts, decreased compliance-related delays in deal execution, or improved performance in regulatory examinations.
The challenge of managing 1,700 regulatory alerts in 2025 represents both a significant threat and a transformative opportunity for bridging lenders. Those who continue with traditional, manual compliance approaches face mounting operational burdens, increasing risk, and potential competitive disadvantage.
However, lenders who embrace technological transformation can turn this challenge into a strategic advantage. By implementing advanced technologies like agentic AI, pursuing comprehensive automation, building compliance-first cultures, and forming strategic partnerships, bridging lenders can achieve more efficient, effective, and resilient compliance capabilities.
As the industry designates 2025 a 'rebuild year', bridging lenders have a critical opportunity to close the compliance technology gap. Those who seize this opportunity will not only better manage regulatory requirements but will also position themselves for sustainable growth in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.
The path forward requires a balanced approach that combines technological innovation with organisational transformation. By developing comprehensive compliance technology roadmaps and implementing them systematically, bridging lenders can beat the regulatory avalanche and emerge stronger, more efficient, and better positioned to serve their clients effectively.
We see the escalating volume of regulatory alerts not merely as an operational burden, but as definitive proof that traditional, fragmented approaches to lending infrastructure are fundamentally broken. Relying on manual processes and disconnected systems to navigate thousands of complex regulatory changes annually is unsustainable and inherently risky. This challenge underscores our core belief: simplifying lending in today's environment demands a complete departure from legacy methods. We maintain that true compliance readiness and operational efficiency can only be achieved by embedding regulatory requirements directly within the core lending workflow, powered by sophisticated technology that eliminates the dangerous delays and coverage gaps inherent in outdated systems.
Navigating this complexity requires a unified, end-to-end platform that acts as the single source of truth for all lending activities, from origination through to maturity. We firmly believe that integrating data extraction, risk assessment, loan management, and compliance monitoring into one cohesive system is the only viable path forward. This enables the real-time processing and automation necessary for bridging lenders to maintain speed while ensuring rigorous adherence to evolving regulations. Lenders who fail to adopt this integrated, data-driven infrastructure will inevitably face escalating costs, increased risk exposure, and a significant competitive disadvantage in a market that increasingly rewards efficiency and proactive compliance.
1. Mortgage lenders lag on compliance as tech evolves rapidly, HousingWire
2. AI Revolutionizes Non-Bank Mortgage Lending: Insights from HFS Research and Cognizant, QuantisNow
3. Study Shows How Important Technology Has Become for Mortgage Lenders, MortgageOrb
4. 3 key areas to improve risk and compliance management at banks and fintechs, BAI
5. New Research Reveals How AI is Transforming Mortgage Lending: 74% of Lenders Race to Innovate, StockTitan
6. Agentic AI for Compliance: Transforming Regulatory Management, XenonStack
7. Why Building Compliance into Company Culture is Essential, International Compliance Association
8. Creating a Culture of Compliance, Thomson Reuters
10. Case Studies: How Lenders Transformed Operations with Loan Management Software, LendFusion
11. Lending Trends in 2025: Technology, Regulation, and Market Evolution, Neo-Fin
12. Transforming Loan Origination for Community Impact: A Case Study with AltCap, Fundingo
13. JPMorgan sets aside $50 billion more in direct lending push, Reuters
14. Lending Use Cases: How Modern Treasury Supports Lending Operations, Modern Treasury
15. Private credit boom brings compliance challenges, Financial Times
16. Why Real-Time Compliance Will Define the Future of RegTech, Finextra
17. Kompliant Recognized in FinTech Global's 2025 DataTech50 List, PR Newswire
18. Regly Launches AI-Powered Compliance and Financial Crime Prevention Platform, StreetInsider