StarCompliance urges firms to modernize compliance tech for 2027 budgets

StarCompliance is pressing compliance teams to rethink old systems as they plan 2027 budgets, warning that fragmented tools may miss new risks across crypto, tokenized assets and prediction markets. The company’s new guide says connected data and automation are increasingly necessary to track employee activity, MNPI and conflicts more effectively.

Why it matters: - Compliance teams are being asked to manage more asset types, more venues and more risk signals with the same or leaner resources. - StarCompliance says firms that keep relying on legacy systems and manual work may miss material non-public information, conflicts and emerging trading risks. - The pressure lands now because many firms are beginning 2027 budget planning.

What happened: - StarCompliance published a new guide titled “Building a Business Case for Modern Compliance.” - The guidance urges compliance leaders to test whether current technology can keep pace with changing markets. - The company framed the issue around “Compliance, Connected,” its approach to linking people, processes, technology and data.

The details: - Employees now trade across traditional securities, crypto and digital assets, tokenized real-world assets and prediction markets. - StarCompliance says all of those asset classes can involve the same MNPI misuse risk. - The guide flags shadow trading as a growing concern. - Shadow trading expands risk by raising questions about trading in economically related companies or assets rather than the security directly tied to the information source. - StarCompliance says connecting employee activity, MNPI, market data and other risk signals can reveal relationships that might otherwise stay hidden. - The guide tells compliance leaders to ask whether current platforms can monitor activity across traditional and emerging asset classes. - The guide also asks whether MNPI can be tied to personal trading and other conflicts. - The guide asks whether current data can uncover hidden relationships and risks. - The guide asks whether technology can adapt as regulations, markets and business needs change. - The guide asks whether manual processes are using resources that could go toward higher-value risk work. - StarCompliance’s 2026 Global Compliance Benchmark Study drew on input from more than 300 compliance, risk and technology professionals. - In that study, 76% of respondents reported increased compliance budgets. - In that study, 67% said they are deploying or piloting AI. - In that study, 40% said digital assets and crypto are the area where they feel least prepared. - StarCompliance says legacy technology and manual processes also carry direct costs because firms must develop, test, maintain, support and update them. - The company says firms may also face remediation costs or greater reliance on external legal, consulting and technology help when gaps appear. - Compliance leaders can read the full guidance and download the benchmark study on the StarCompliance website. - The company is a provider of employee and firm compliance technology solutions, with users in 120 countries and more than 25 years in financial services.

Between the lines: - The message is less about adding more tools and more about connecting the ones firms already have. - The emphasis on AI, digital assets and shadow trading suggests compliance programs are shifting from static monitoring to broader, faster-moving risk detection. - The benchmark results indicate many firms are already budgeting for change, even if preparedness is uneven.

What's next: - Compliance teams will likely use 2027 planning to compare current platforms against newer, connected systems. - Firms will need to decide whether to invest in automation, broader data integration and more flexible monitoring before risk exposure grows. - StarCompliance is steering interested readers to its guidance and benchmark study as budgeting discussions move forward.

The bottom line: - StarCompliance’s core pitch is simple: as compliance risk spans more assets and faster markets, disconnected systems become harder to defend.