Head of Regulatory Affairs
The Head of Regulatory Affairs manages the company's relationships with regulators, obtains and maintains licenses, and ensures that the product complies with supervisory requirements in fintech and payments.
What a Head of Regulatory Affairs does
The Head of Regulatory Affairs is the leader who ensures that a fintech or payments business can operate legally in the required jurisdictions and does not lose its licenses. This role determines which regulatory requirements apply to the company's products, how to meet them, and who is responsible for what within the organization.
In high-risk verticals, this role is especially important because regulators scrutinize payments, customer identification, anti-money laundering, and consumer protection more closely than in most other industries. A mistake in one product or one country can cost the company its license or its merchant acquiring, which is why companies appoint a dedicated leader rather than spreading the issue across legal and product teams.
This role typically reports to the CEO, COO, or Chief Compliance Officer, depending on the structure. Internally, the Head of Regulatory Affairs coordinates lawyers, compliance specialists, product teams, and the finance function, and handles communication with regulators at the management level.
Responsibilities
- Maintaining a map of regulatory requirements for each jurisdiction and product, and keeping it current as laws and supervisory practice change
- Organizing and supporting the obtaining, renewal, and expansion of licenses and permits to operate
- Communicating with regulators: preparing inquiries, responses to orders, and participating in audits and meetings
- Agreeing with the regulator on new products, channels, and mechanisms before launch or during the pilot stage
- Monitoring compliance with KYC, AML, data storage, and reporting requirements together with risk and product teams
- Preparing internal compliance policies and procedures and overseeing their implementation
- Managing regulatory risks: assessment, prioritization, remediation plans, and escalation to the board or risk owners
- Preparing reports for management and the board of directors on compliance status and open risks
- Organizing employee training on regulatory requirements and tracking completion
- Coordinating external consultants and law firms when working with the regulator
Skills
- Deep knowledge of licensing requirements and supervisory practice in fintech, payments, and related areas
- Ability to translate regulatory requirements into clear product and operational tasks
- Negotiation with regulators: clear position, strong argumentation, and a calm tone in conflict situations
- Management experience: setting tasks, distributing responsibilities, and working with cross-functional teams
- Regulatory risk assessment and the ability to set priorities with limited resources
- Written communication: preparing formal letters, opinions, policies, and board presentations
- Understanding of payment product logic, merchant acquiring, and user journeys so that they can speak the language of product teams
- Managing projects to obtain licenses and launch products in new markets
- Ability to work under uncertainty, when rules change faster than they can be interpreted
Tools
- Requirement registers and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) systems
- Task and project trackers, such as Jira or Asana
- Document management systems and version control for policies
- Spreadsheets and BI tools for regulatory reporting and metrics monitoring
- Email and corporate messengers for official correspondence with regulators and internal teams
- Legal databases of regulations and legislative change monitoring
How performance is measured
- No regulator orders or sanctions caused by the company's failures
- Timeline for obtaining or renewing licenses versus plan
- Share of products and jurisdictions operating in line with current requirements
- Number of open regulatory risks and the speed of closing them
- Results of regulator audits and timely completion of issued orders
- Share of employees covered by regulatory training
By vertical
FinTech
In fintech and payments, the role covers payment service licenses, customer identification requirements, rules for holding client funds and reporting, and rules for issuers and acquirers. The leader works closely with banking partners, since part of the company's compliance obligations lies with them and with processing providers.
Levels
Head of / Director
At the Head of / Director level, the leader is responsible for the company's entire regulatory strategy: choosing jurisdictions, licensing model, budget, and team. They make decisions on market entry and product launches, are accountable to the board of directors or CEO, and represent the company at the management level in dialogue with regulators.
How to get there
Professionals usually enter regulatory affairs from the legal or compliance departments of banks, payment institutions, brokers, and investment firms, or from supervisory bodies. Experience with licensing, audits, and internal control is valuable. In fintech, it is important to understand how payments, merchant acquiring, and customer identification work.
The path usually begins in a legal or compliance specialist position, where a person learns to work with requirements, prepare documents, and correspond with regulators. Next come managing licensing projects or individual jurisdictions, then leading a small team and moving up to a head-of-function role. It is important to accumulate experience in real audits and approvals with regulators, as employers value this most.
To grow, it is useful to regularly read regulatory decisions and guidance, analyze industry sanction cases, and study the product logic of payments. Management skills and the ability to speak the language of business and the board of directors usually become decisive at the leadership level.
Next steps: Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Director of Compliance, General Counsel, Head of Legal, Chief Risk Officer (CRO)
FAQ
How does a Head of Regulatory Affairs differ from a Compliance Officer?
A Compliance Officer usually oversees the execution of internal procedures and requirements in day-to-day work. A Head of Regulatory Affairs is responsible for the strategy of relationships with regulators, obtaining licenses, and interpreting legislation at the company level. In many organizations these roles are closely linked, and in smaller companies one person may hold both.
Is a legal education required to become a Head of Regulatory Affairs?
A legal or economics education is common but not mandatory. Practical experience with regulators, licensing, and compliance matters more. Knowledge of financial regulation and an understanding of payment product logic are often valued as much as a degree.
What determines compensation in this role?
Compensation depends on company size, the number of jurisdictions, the complexity of the licensing model, the level of decision-making responsibility, and the candidate's experience. The labor market in the region and whether the company works with high-risk products, where regulatory pressure is higher, also matter.
What experience is needed to reach a leadership position?
Typically, several years of experience in regulatory affairs, compliance, or legal work in the financial sector are required, including managing licensing projects and teams. Employers also look at experience negotiating with regulators and the ability to make decisions under uncertainty.
What risks does this role carry?
The main risks relate to responsibility for the company's compliance. Errors can lead to orders, fines, restrictions on operations, or loss of a license. The role therefore requires accuracy, documentation of decisions, and the ability to raise issues to management in time.
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