Global Market Entry Strategy for Fintech & Financial Services

Table of Contents

Understanding the regulatory landscape

Regulatory complexity is probably the biggest challenge in any international expansion strategy, and it is even more so in the financial services sector. As one of the most tightly controlled sectors globally, financial services and fintech requires companies to deal with each country having its own rules, regulators, and practices they must follow.

These are just some types of regulations to consider:

AML & KYC frameworks

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Customer Due Diligence rules vary by jurisdiction, especially following EU’s 5th AML Directive, which broadened KYC obligations to cryptocurrency exchanges, e‑wallets, and fintechs.

In LaTam, In Brazil and Chile for example, fintechs are required to partner with licensed banks or become regulated institutions themselves, maintain KYC processes and file detailed transaction reports to authorities.

Local taxation & reporting standards

Different national financial tax regimes introduce complexities in transactional tax, withholding tax, VAT (on digital services), and cross-border withholding. Some markets require detailed remittance reporting even for small transfers.

Marketing & communication restrictions

EU regulations (through ESMA and national competent authorities) require marketing for financial instruments or investment services to be “fair, clear and non‑misleading,” with appropriate disclaimers and audience segmentation to protect less experienced investors.

If you’ve ever tried to run a Meta ad campaign, and had to declare your ads under the ‘Financial products and services’ policy, this might sound familiar.

Read Meta’s policies for Financial products and services.

EU data residency & localisation rules

While GDPR doesn’t explicitly mandate storing data within the EU, it does impose strict rules for transferring personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This means that while you can store data outside the EU, you must ensure that the recipient country provides an adequate level of data protection equivalent to the GDPR’s standards.