• Expansion will support U.S. firms facing increased regulatory pressures and meet heightened demand for cloud-based compliance and regulatory oversight technology.
• COVID-19 crisis has been a major driver behind the move, with the pandemic inundating compliance teams with investigations and creating an urgent need to explore new monitoring measures for regulated employees while working from home.
• $17 million raised in 2020 to support the company’s growth.

SteelEye, the UK-based compliance technology and data analytics firm, today announces its plans to bolster its footprint by expanding into North America.

SteelEye, which has seen rapid growth in Europe since launching in 2017, delivers a comprehensive SaaS-based regulatory technology (regtech) platform that allows banks, brokers, and asset managers to simplify their compliance processes across various EU, UK and now U.S., market regulations.

The SteelEye platform reduces the complexity and cost of financial compliance by providing a range of regulatory tools that support effortless compliance management, allowing compliance teams to improve efficiencies, reporting accuracy and overall transparency, all from one platform.

Recognising SteelEye’s unique offering and the regtech market potential (estimated to reach $21.73 billion by 2027), the business raised more than $17 million through two funding rounds in 2020. The first was led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV) alongside existing investor Illuminate Financial. The second and more recent round was completed in December with U.S. based investor Beacon Equity Partners leading the round. Ed Mullen, founder of Beacon, is joining the SteelEye Board of Directors.

Commenting on the announcement, CEO of SteelEye, Matt Smith, said: “The U.S. and Canadian markets are crying out for a new way to oversee their conduct and trading activity. Our technology is a huge opportunity for firms needing to reduce the complexity and cost of compliance, which in some cases represents as much as 10% of a firm’s noninterest expenses.”

“There is a clear demand for technology that improves compliance accuracy while simplifying processes in the North American market – SteelEye is the perfect solution to support firms. We are delighted to be working with Ed and the team at Beacon Equity Partners, whose expertise in scaling global businesses will be instrumental as we expand into North America.”

Introduced in 2010 under the Obama administration, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) initiated a variety of additional regulatory requirements for financial firms to improve accountability and transparency. Adhering to this legislation more than ten years after its introduction continues to be a challenge many firms are seeking to address.

An obvious driver for entering the U.S. market is not only the growing demand for cloud-based compliance and regulatory oversight technology, but also the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has inundated compliance teams with investigations and, consequently, created an urgent need to explore new monitoring measures for regulated employees to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements while working from home.

This operational barrier has been compounded further by ongoing regulatory pressures and soaring trading volumes, intense volatility, market uncertainty and a large increase in e-communications caused by the pandemic.

Commenting on the announcement, Ed Mullen, Partner and Founder of Beacon Equity Partners, said: “SteelEye has a unique value proposition, combining communications oversight, trade surveillance and regulatory reporting on a single platform. There is great potential in the U.S. for a service that simplifies compliance for financial firms, and we are delighted to support SteelEye as they enter this market.”