When Compliance Becomes an Opportunity – How Regulation Contributes to Professionalization and Efficiency
Blog, 08/05/2025
In the financial services industry, compliance and regulation are often seen as necessary obligations. However, a more nuanced view shows that those who not only meet regulatory requirements but also see them as a strategic lever can gain clear competitive advantages. This is particularly evident in the context of the EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which highlights the potential of a proactive, professional approach.
Regulation as a Driver of Efficiency and Excellence
Instead of viewing compliance as a burden, companies have the opportunity to optimize their processes and systems. Consistent documentation, transparent evaluation, and continuous adjustment of relevant processes not only create regulatory security but also structural clarity. This positively impacts internal efficiency and external perception.
A regulatory framework like DORA can act as a catalyst. The regulation forces financial companies to question their operational resilience, systematically assess IT risks, and implement contingency plans. Companies that take this impulse seriously can go beyond mere compliance and make their entire organization more robust and future-proof.
Intrinsic Motivation as a Success Factor
Compliant processes do not arise solely from directives or controls. What is crucial is a corporate culture in which compliance is understood not just as an obligation but as part of professional conduct. Employees who are intrinsically motivated by regulation make a significant contribution to the sustainable implementation of regulatory requirements.
When this attitude is anchored in the organization, processes emerge that are not only compliant but also comprehensible, transparent, and resilient. Compliance thus becomes a lived practice, a source of clarity and reliability – both internally and externally.
Opportunity and Risk Management on Equal Footing
While detailed risk management has long been standard in many companies, opportunity management often leads a shadowy existence. Yet, the structured analysis and evaluation of opportunities offer great potential for innovation and business success. Those who identify, evaluate, and manage opportunities as systematically as risks can promote promising initiatives early on – and terminate inefficient ideas just as early.
An integrated opportunity and risk management thus supports not only strategic alignment but also operational excellence. It makes companies capable of action and flexible in a dynamic regulatory environment.
Orientation in a Complex Regulatory Environment
Implementing requirements like DORA poses profound structural and technological questions for many financial service providers: Which processes are critical? What dependencies exist with third parties? How is resilience not only documented but also operationalized? Answering these questions requires not only regulatory expertise but also a deep understanding of the operational reality of banks, insurers, and leasing companies.
An interdisciplinary approach that brings together regulation, technology, and business processes is therefore essential. Successful organizations manage to translate regulatory requirements into robust processes without losing their ability to act – on the contrary: they gain clarity and controllability.
Typical pitfalls arise where regulatory projects are planned in isolation in silos without considering the overall architecture of the organization. Underestimating the ongoing maintenance and monitoring effort of control systems and a lack of a culture of responsibility at all levels often lead to ineffective implementation. Those who instead focus on transparency, interdisciplinary collaboration, and continuous development can not only meet compliance but make it an integral part of a stable business model.
Conclusion
Compliance can be much more than an obligation. Those who approach it with the right attitude and structure create clarity, stability, and room for innovation. This was also evident at the Handelsblatt Annual Banking Supervision Conference 2025, where Mathias Weinert, Chief Risk Officer at Sopra Financial Technology, addressed this topic in his presentation. Under the motto "When Compliance Becomes Passion, Opportunities Arise Where Others Only See Obligations," he showed how companies can be more successful through a strategically motivated implementation of regulation – today and in the future.
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