2025 brought meaningful shifts across global regulatory regimes. Rather than a wave of new rules, the year showed how regulators, managers, and markets adapted to increasing complexity, particularly the effect of international politics. These changes reshaped implementation timelines, increased scrutiny in key areas, and influenced how firms approach compliance across key jurisdictions.
The United States: Extended timelines, growing expectations
In the US, the SEC sent a clear signal of a directional shift. The two-year delay of Rule 13f-2 and Form SHO compliance timelines gave firms additional runway, but the underlying obligation stayed put.
In March, we saw the beginning of the rollout of EDGAR Next, which modernised the SEC’s filing infrastructure and highlighted a growing regulatory expectation: access, authentication, and operational resilience are now core compliance responsibilities.
Geopolitics moves into day-to-day compliance
Geopolitical considerations became impossible to separate from regulatory compliance in 2025. Due to the rising tensions between the US and China, particularly in the AI race, there has been heightened scrutiny of US capital flows into China, bringing initiatives such as Reverse CFIUS front and centre. The increased prevalence of economic sanctions also evolved into an ongoing monitoring challenge.
At our annual compliance event, Compliance Connect, our compliance community echoed these themes, noting that geopolitics now play a central role in influencing equity performance, regulatory exposure, and compliance priorities. Firms are reevaluating and expanding their risk frameworks across portfolios, accepting that uncertainty is here to stay.
Aligning markets in Europe
In the EU, renewed momentum behind the Capital Markets Union reflected broader pressures around defence, security, competitiveness, and climate change financing. While full capital markets harmonisation remains a work in progress, the trend is toward greater consistency and more centralised oversight under ESMA. For compliance teams, this signals a gradual move away from fragmented local interpretation toward more standardised monitoring and reporting expectations.
Smarter technology while maintaining trust
In 2025, AI has moved from theory to widespread practical use, changing how teams prioritise tasks and generate value. Compliance teams have been forced to balance innovation and technological advancements with oversight as adoption grows. At Compliance Connect, panellists and attendees alike highlighted growing skepticism toward “AI washing” and a clear preference for technology that delivers reliable, explainable outcomes. Professionals are looking for a controlled use of AI, with strong governance and assurance to support better decisions. The goal is to strengthen existing processes over time - not remove the human in the loop.
Change is the only constant
Taken together, 2025 reinforced regulatory change is continuous, and expectations are increasing. Regulators are modernising infrastructure, accounting for geopolitical risk, and giving firms time where complexity demands it. For managers worldwide, success depends on adaptable systems, strong data foundations, and compliance processes built to operate confidently in an environment where change is constant.
What to expect in 2026
Increased oversight of 13(d), 13(g), 13(f), 16(a) and Form N-PX
If there’s one major regulatory trend that defines 2025 and will shape 2026, it’s this: filing correctly and on time matters now more than ever.
On 17 November 2025, for the first time in history, the SEC singled out beneficial ownership reporting, insider reporting and proxy vote reporting as an examination priority. While enforcement sweeps in this area aren’t new, the elevation to examination priority marks a meaningful shift. These disclosures are now central to how the SEC evaluates compliance programmes.
Investor influence under Trump
This change reflects the SEC’s stance on the balance of power between investors and company management. Under the current administration, there has been a clear move toward limiting investor influence while applying less direct scrutiny to corporate management.
Throughout 2025 the SEC narrowed reliance on Section 13G for investors engaging on environmental, political, and governance matters. It also signalled openness to structural changes in public markets, from reconsidering quarterly earnings reporting to allowing restrictions on shareholding class actions. Later in the year, enforcement data showed fewer actions against public companies, and the SEC paused its review of shareholder proposals. These themes were reinforced in December, when Commissioner Mark Uyeda warned of increased scrutiny around reliance on Schedule 13G, particularly where proxy advisers and group formation are involved.
What it means for managers
These developments sit alongside a broader and increasingly vocal challenge of the influence wielded by proxy advisers and large asset managers, particularly in relation to voting on environmental matters. This long-running critique appears to be reaching a tipping point at the SEC, and more broadly.
All in-scope investors will need to be even more careful in 2026 and beyond, in particular, given the narrowing of reliance on 13(g), investors may have to file more frequently and in greater detail on the Schedule 13D form, placing a greater burden on compliance officers.
A product-ive year: Where we’re headed
This year marked an important step forward in how we support compliance teams. As regulatory obligations grow in volume, frequency, and complexity, it’s no longer practical to monitor rules in isolation. Firms need tools that help manage compliance more effectively, from areas like monitoring and surveillance through to regulatory reporting. That need shaped our product growth strategy even further in 2025.
Our investment this year focused on expanding FundApps’ product suite to better support compliance teams across monitoring, reporting, and surveillance. The merger with SteelEye accelerated this direction, bringing complementary expertise in trade and communications surveillance to our joint suite of solutions. Together, we’re better positioned to help clients address a broader range of challenges across the regulatory lifecycle.
Expanding coverage: Monitoring and reporting
Regulatory Reporting - In 2025, we extended our platform into regulatory reporting, addressing some of the most onerous filing obligations tasked to global managers. The launch of AIFMD Annex IV and Form PF Reporting reflects our focus on reducing manual effort, improving transparency, and giving firms greater confidence in the accuracy and defensibility of their submissions. These services are designed to fit naturally alongside existing FundApps service workflows, positioning clients to scale as reporting demands increase.
Monitoring - At the same time, we continued to build out our monitoring offering in response to an increasingly complex global regulatory environment and client demand. Geopolitics, market volatility, and regulatory scrutiny now demand oversight across a wider range of obligations simultaneously. New services like Sanctions, Poison Pills, UCITS and AIFMD, BHCA and Reverse CFIUS Monitoring all expand the coverage and visibility of obligations firms have access to on the FundApps platform. Together, they reflect a shift toward continuous automated monitoring, all from a single place.
What it means for our clients
For clients, partners, and the wider FundApps Community, this approach delivers broader coverage and a more connected compliance framework. By bringing monitoring, reporting and surveillance together, we’re supporting our clients with a foundation for long-term compliance, and doing so with the highest quality of services as regulatory requirements evolve.
As the year comes to a close, we’re feeling proud, thankful, and grateful for 2025, and just as eager and excited for 2026.
