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Our Global Compliance Survey 2025 gathered insights from over 1,800 executives across 63 countries, revealing that compliance complexity is increasing worldwide. While New Zealand is a small market by global standards, the findings are highly relevant - regulatory change, digital transformation, and data-driven compliance are pressing concerns here too.
Many local businesses still take a reactive approach to compliance, dealing with issues only when they arise, rather than embedding compliance into strategic decision-making. The challenge now is to shift towards a proactive model that reduces risk, improves efficiency, and builds long-term resilience.
In this article, we outline four key compliance priorities for New Zealand businesses, helping you stay ahead of regulatory changes without adding unnecessary complexity. Now is the time to act - by challenging the status quo of your organisation’s compliance efforts today, you can avoid costly surprises tomorrow.
Compliance efforts should shift from being reactive to proactive
A significant portion of compliance initiatives are driven by regulatory enforcement, breaches or external pressures - rather than proactive risk management. This means that many organisations are waiting for a problem - or worse, a penalty - before taking action. This reactive approach can lead to rushed, costly, and sometimes inadequate fixes that fail to address the root cause of compliance weaknesses. Proactive compliance, on the other hand, builds resilience by identifying and mitigating risks before they escalate. Organisations that invest in proactive compliance experience fewer regulatory surprises, lower costs, and stronger stakeholder trust.
Organisations must embed compliance into their strategic planning rather than treating it as an afterthought. Regular risk assessments, early engagement with regulators, and a culture of continuous improvement are all essential. Compliance teams should be empowered to provide forward-looking insights rather than only policing past mistakes. Investing in technology that provides real-time compliance monitoring, automating routine compliance tasks, and establishing a strong compliance training program for employees can all help move organisations toward a more proactive stance.
Organisations must simplify compliance processes to minimise the strain complexity places on resources and leadership focus
The increasing complexity of compliance is making it harder than ever for organisations to manage resources, implement system changes, and keep senior leaders engaged in compliance decision-making. Many businesses struggle with overlapping regulatory requirements, the pace of change and increased scrutiny from a range of stakeholders. This complexity can slow down operations, divert executive attention from strategic initiatives, and make it harder to allocate resources effectively. Compliance should be a business enabler, not a burden—but without the right structures, it can become a major source of inefficiency.
We see significant opportunities in New Zealand to simplify and streamline compliance processes wherever possible. Investing in reliable and pragmatic technology solutions can help reduce manual work and ensure a more coordinated approach. Automation tools can assist in tracking regulatory changes and streamlining reporting, freeing up resources for higher-value compliance activities. Additionally, we view effective compliance leaders as those who work closely with business executives to align compliance efforts with strategic goals, positioning compliance as a valued partner rather than an obstacle.
Compliance teams should expect to be central to major strategic initiatives, especially digital transformation
In the next few years, compliance will play a pivotal role in shaping major business initiatives, particularly digital transformation, and in New Zealand this also includes workforce changes. As organisations adopt new technologies, launch digital services, and explore AI-driven decision-making, compliance must ensure that regulatory risks, data privacy concerns, and ethical considerations are addressed from the outset. When compliance is treated as an afterthought, businesses can find themselves investing in technology that later needs costly modifications to meet regulatory standards—or worse, facing enforcement action for non-compliance.
In New Zealand we have worked closely with clients that have chosen to do the hard work upfront during large transformations. They do this by being deliberate about ‘compliance by design’ during the requirements gathering phase. These organisations limit double handling processes to retro-fit compliance requirements, and are also able to provide comfort to their board and regulators that compliance was not afterthought. We suggest organisations embed compliance expertise into digital transformation teams. This enables compliance to have a voice in technology selection, system design and support customer data strategies to ensure regulatory requirements are met without stifling innovation. Additionally, ongoing training on emerging technologies for compliance teams can help bridge the knowledge gap and allow them to provide informed, practical advice on regulatory risks in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Now is the time to invest in maturing your data-driven compliance capability
Data-driven compliance is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Organisations that leverage data analytics for compliance gain real-time visibility into risks, improve reporting accuracy, and respond faster to regulatory changes. Manual compliance processes are no longer sustainable in an era where regulators expect timely, transparent, and detailed compliance reporting. However, investing in data tools without a clear strategy can lead to wasted resources and poor adoption.
Organisations in New Zealand are consistently asking us: “How can we make risk and compliance more data-driven?” We see the starting point typically as an assessment of your current data capabilities and identifying gaps. Key questions include: Do compliance teams have access to the right data? Is reporting automated, or does it still rely on time-consuming manual processes?
Investing in technology that enables predictive analytics, automated compliance monitoring, and AI-driven risk detection can help organisations stay ahead of regulatory requirements. However, technology alone isn’t enough—compliance professionals must be trained to interpret and act on data insights. This means enhancing data literacy within compliance teams so that data-driven compliance becomes a core capability.
Conclusion Compliance as a competitive advantage
The insights from PwC’s Global Compliance Survey 2025 confirm what New Zealand businesses are already experiencing—compliance is becoming more complex, but it doesn’t have to be a burden.
Shifting from reactive to proactive compliance, simplifying processes, embedding compliance into strategic initiatives and leveraging data-driven insights are critical to staying ahead. The most forward-thinking organisations are not just meeting regulatory requirements; they are using compliance as a competitive advantage to build trust, enhance resilience, and drive business transformation. Now is the time to take action. Evaluate your current compliance approach, invest in the right technology and skills and position compliance as an enabler of long-term success.
If your organisation needs guidance on where to start, we’re here to help—get in touch to discuss how you can future-proof your compliance strategy.
Read PwC's Global Compliance Survey 2025
Reinventing compliance to navigate complexity, build trust, and take risk intelligently to speed up – and stay in the race.
New Zealand risk services
Together with our clients, we bring ambition, skills, and cutting edge technology to build resilient organisations—so you can act boldly and purposefully.
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