The compliance talent crunch: Why finding (and keeping) great people just got harder

Compliance has never been a simple job. But somewhere in the past few years, it quietly became something else entirely: an operational challenge that most private funds, asset managers, and legal teams are now struggling to solve.

It's not just the growing volume of regulation. It's the fact that the rules themselves are getting more complicated, more fragmented, and more global.

And against that backdrop, the people who understand how to navigate it all are getting harder to find.

A global problem, playing out locally

Talk to anyone hiring in compliance right now and the story is the same. Whether they're in New York, London, or Luxembourg, the pool of experienced talent is shrinking.

Part of this is structural. Over the past decade, regulatory expectations have climbed steadily. What started with know your customer (KYC) requirements and anti-money laundering (AML) checks has evolved into an ever-expanding list of obligations: beneficial ownership reporting, sanctions screening, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures, cross-border tax transparency. The list keeps growing.

And while some jurisdictions have pulled back–domestic US companies were fully exempted from beneficial ownership reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act by FinCEN's interim final rule effective in March 2025, and several SEC initiatives have been rolled back, others are moving full steam ahead. The EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which became operational in July 2025, is building out its supervisory role. The FCA updated its Financial Crime Guide in April 2025 and has listed fighting financial crime as one of its strategic priorities for 2025-2030. And FinCEN's investment adviser AML rule—which will bring registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers within the Bank Secrecy Act's scope—is finalized and on the books, with a compliance date of January 1, 2028.

For global firms, this means one thing: There's no such thing as a simple compliance framework anymore. Staying on top of the rulebook now requires fluency in multiple jurisdictions, and the ability to adapt as those rules evolve.

The catch: Talent isn't keeping pace

Here's the real challenge. There simply aren't enough people with the right mix of skills.

Not just AML expertise. Not just regulatory knowledge. But the ability to navigate the gray areas—knowing what's market, what's acceptable, what's mandatory. Understanding how U.K. rules intersect with U.S. frameworks. How EU directives play out in real-world fund structures.

The demand isn't just for box-tickers. It's for strategic operators. People who understand company objectives, can interpret the rules, apply them pragmatically, and keep pace with a regulatory landscape that's shifting faster than ever.

And those people? They're already employed. Already overstretched. Or increasingly expensive to hire.

The real operational risk

This is where compliance stops being a regulatory problem and starts becoming a business one.

Because when you can't hire fast enough, or train fast enough, the risk doesn't just sit in your compliance function. It spills over into operations. Into deal timelines. Into investor relations. Into the bottom line.

These risks are already playing out. Deals delayed because KYC checks are stuck. Legal teams overwhelmed by jurisdictional complexity. Firms forced to lean on outside counsel every time a cross-border wrinkle appears, pushing costs higher while agility drops.

It's not sustainable. And everyone knows it.

So what's the answer?

For some firms, the instinct is to try and solve it in-house. Build the team. Train aggressively. Hope that salaries stabilize and hiring becomes easier.

But increasingly, that's starting to look like an uphill battle.

Because the job itself has changed. It's no longer about having "a compliance person." It's about having access to the right expertise, at the right time, across the right jurisdictions. It's about managing complexity without letting it drag down the pace of business.

And that's where the conversation inevitably shifts, from whether you can do it in-house, to whether you should.

The case for a different model

The firms that are moving fastest aren't just throwing bodies at the problem. They're rethinking the model entirely.

They're asking: do we really need to own all of this ourselves? Or is the smarter play to work with specialists, firms whose entire business is built around navigating this complexity day in, day out?

Not just for legal advice when things go wrong. But for the operational execution that keeps deals moving. For KYC processes that don't get stuck. For compliance workflows that run faster, leaner, and with less risk.

Because the reality is simple. Compliance isn't getting any easier. The regulatory environment isn't getting any simpler. And the talent market isn't suddenly going to flood with experienced professionals who understand the intersection of U.S., U.K., and EU law.

Where this goes next

The teams that succeed will be the ones who stop thinking about compliance as a headcount problem, and start thinking about it as an operational strategy.

That might mean building smarter internal teams. It might mean leaning harder on technology.

And for many, it will mean partnering with firms like Carta Law that can absorb the operational burden without adding more pressure to already stretched teams.

This is the sixth entry in Carta Law's series, Private Markets Compliance: The Operational Framework. Read the next entry here.

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