For Forex/CFD brokers, payments businesses and FinTech companies, compliance recruitment has traditionally centred on regulatory knowledge, AML experience and familiarity with the relevant licence.

That profile is becoming broader. Regulation is increasingly interconnected with technology, cybersecurity, outsourcing, payments and operational resilience. For employers, the recruitment question is therefore changing from ‘Does this candidate know the regulations?’ to ‘Can this person translate regulation into how our business actually operates?’

1. Compliance Is Becoming a Cross-Functional Role

Modern regulatory obligations rarely stay inside the Compliance Department.

DORA alone touches ICT risk, cybersecurity, incident management, outsourcing, third-party providers, business continuity, technology and senior management. AML affects onboarding and payments. Marketing rules affect acquisition. Client-asset requirements involve Finance and Operations. Product changes can create regulatory consequences.

Employer implication: during interviews, test whether candidates can work with other departments. Ask them to describe a situation where they had to turn a regulatory requirement into an operational process involving people outside Compliance.

2. The Specialist Talent Pool Is Smaller Than the Job Title Suggests

Finding applicants with ‘Compliance Officer’ on their CV may not be difficult.

Finding someone who combines financial regulation, AML, technology risk, operational resilience and practical industry experience is considerably harder. PCN’s 2026 DORA talent analysis found an estimated 150-200 open DORA-related positions against an addressable pool of roughly 100 suitably qualified candidates in the German market it examined.

Employer implication: distinguish between skills that must exist on Day 1 and capabilities that can realistically be developed after joining. Searching indefinitely for a candidate who perfectly matches every regulatory and technical requirement can make an already-small talent pool almost disappear.

3. AML Hiring Pressure Is Unlikely to Disappear

Employers should be careful about assuming that technology will substantially reduce the need for AML talent.

PwC’s 2026 EMEA AML Survey covered more than 500 financial institutions across 40 countries. Only around one-third of EU institutions expect to be ready for the EU AML Package by July 2027, while more than half of EMEA respondents anticipate significant operational disruption. Around one-third expect long-term AML compliance costs to increase by 10-30%.

Technology will change how AML teams operate, but it does not remove the need for people who understand suspicious behaviour, risk, escalation, regulatory expectations and judgment.

Employer implication: when planning 2027 headcount, treat AML capability as a workforce-planning issue rather than waiting until a vacancy or regulatory deadline creates an urgent recruitment exercise.

4. Don’t Write a Job Description for Three Different People

As requirements expand, there is a danger of producing unrealistic specifications.

A company may ask for CySEC expertise, MLRO experience, DORA, GDPR, MiFID II, cybersecurity knowledge, payments experience, policy drafting, regulatory reporting, board exposure, offshore regulation and several professional qualifications – while offering compensation for a conventional Compliance Officer.

Before launching a search, separate requirements into Essential, Developable and Supporting capabilities.

Employer implication: a realistic brief usually produces a stronger shortlist than a long specification created by combining every stakeholder’s wish list.

5. Retaining the Right Compliance Professional May Be Cheaper Than Replacing Them

Scarcity changes the retention calculation.

When an experienced Compliance Officer, MLRO, ICT Risk specialist or Operational Resilience professional leaves, the company can also lose institutional knowledge: previous regulator discussions, historical client-risk decisions, weaknesses identified in earlier reviews, relationships with other departments and understanding of the firm’s systems.

Employer implication: succession planning and retention discussions should start before a critical employee resigns. Employers should identify regulatory roles where losing one individual would materially affect operations and ensure knowledge is documented and shared.

Conclusion

Compliance recruitment in financial services is moving beyond hiring people who simply understand rules.

The strongest professionals increasingly need to connect regulation, AML, technology, operational resilience and the commercial realities of the business.

For Forex, CFD, payments and FinTech companies, the quality of the compliance hire is increasingly part of the quality of the business itself.

Building Your Forex or FinTech Team?

FXCareer specialises in recruitment across Forex, CFD, FinTech and regulated financial services, including C-suite & executive leadership, Compliance & AML, Dealing, Payments, Finance, Risk, Technology, Operations, Legal and Marketing.

Whether you need an experienced Compliance Officer, MLRO, specialist professional or senior executive, FXCareer.eu can help identify candidates with relevant industry and regulatory experience.

Sources

PwC – EMEA AML Survey 2026, 21 April 2026
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/tax/publications/emea-aml-survey-2026.html

PCN – DORA Talent Outlook: Supply, Demand and Skills for Digital Operational Resilience, 5 February 2026
https://www.paynxt360.com/report-store/

ENISA – NIS Investments 2025 report, published February 2026
https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/nis-investments-2025

PCN – Hiring Pulse in FinTech: Workforce and Talent Shifts Across Europe, 28 January 2026
https://www.pcn.capital/