What does it really cost when compliance failures move from back-office oversight to front-page news?
Issues like PPI compensation, pension errors, and car finance mis-selling continue to drive significant remediation activity across financial services.
In this episode of Sense of Identity, RiskPod founders Mark and John examine the underlying causes of regulatory breaches, why exposure persists despite increased scrutiny, and how a scalable, intelligence-led model is reshaping institutional response.
| You can watch this video on YouTube or listen to the interview on our podcast channel. |
Mark Weclawek is CEO of RiskPod, bringing extensive experience in risk management and financial services. John Carr is the company’s Chief Risk Officer, with over 35 years of experience in banking and compliance.
RiskPod is revolutionising compliance consulting with a tech-enabled platform that builds expert teams in real time - delivering big-firm results without the big-firm baggage.
The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong
Remediation is a familiar concept in the financial services sector.
Historic failures in areas such as PPI and endowment policies have led to billions paid out in compensation and significant operational strain.
But the regulatory environment has evolved, and with it, the expectations placed on firms.
According to John, many organisations are still caught off guard by supervisory action, particularly when it comes unannounced.
“They’ll find an issue in a customer portfolio and are given a short window to put things right,” he explains.
The challenge lies in resourcing. Most internal teams are optimised for business-as-usual activities, not the intensive requirements of remediation at scale.
"Firms aren't awash with compliance staff waiting around. We created RiskPod to be the solution that shows up when you suddenly need 30 people - not in months, but in days."
John Carr, Chief Risk Officer, RiskPod
The result is a growing dependency on flexible compliance capacity - specialists who can intervene immediately without the overheads of traditional consultancy models.
Mark outlines a persistent trend: regulatory remediation is rarely a one-off exercise.
Whether addressing legacy pension miscalculations or undisclosed car finance commissions, most action occurs only after customer harm is confirmed or suspected.
This reinforces the reactive nature of much compliance activity, particularly in institutions with large, ageing datasets and fragmented records.
“You rarely see cases where people are doing this proactively across the board,” John says.
While reactive by nature, remediation is beginning to be seen by some firms as a baseline element of responsible risk governance.
A timely example is the investigation into car finance mis-selling, which could generate more than £2 billion in compensation claims.
This follows legal scrutiny of discretionary commission models where consumers were unaware that intermediaries received commission payments linked to the loan structure.
As the Supreme Court considers its final decision, firms may soon need to review data, assess consumer harm, and issue redress at scale.
John expects this process to follow a familiar pattern: rapid mobilisation, operational triage, and the deployment of structured case analysis teams.
Mark explains that RiskPod was created to meet this demand head-on.
The platform offers scalable, pre-vetted compliance professionals equipped to support institutions facing urgent or ongoing remediation challenges.
Clients can filter requests by sector, geography, and regulatory scope, matching with individuals who have already been assessed for capability, reliability, and sector-specific insight.
This approach reduces the time and risk associated with traditional staffing and consulting models.
“We're not just another consultancy,” John adds. “We actually leave firms in a better, more self-sufficient place.”
"I don’t want to come back next year and fix the same problem. I’d rather train your team, improve your systems, and make sure you don’t need us again for the same issue."
John Carr, Chief Risk Officer, RiskPod
The financial and operational burden of remediation continues to rise.
According to Fenergo, a single KYC (Know Your Customer) file review can cost up to $2,500 for corporate clients.
With global AML (Anti-Money Laundering) fines exceeding $3 billion in the past year, and compliance accounting for up to 50% of operational spend in some institutions, the financial imperative to streamline remediation has never been greater.
RiskPod’s offer centres on control, clarity, and cost efficiency in a function that is often reactive and high-risk.
Every individual on the platform is vetted against up to 90 performance and experience metrics, covering jurisdictional expertise, regulatory knowledge, and delivery reliability.
"It’s not a free-for-all," Mark explains.
"Each person is a known quantity. Clients don’t need to spend weeks on training or verification."
RiskPod aims to shift industry thinking around compliance support.
Every project includes full documentation, transparent delivery methods, and optional capability-building for internal teams.
“My job isn't finished when the files are done,” John says.
“It’s when we’ve made the firm more resilient and better prepared to face the next challenge.”
This stance challenges the traditional consulting model, which often relies on long-term dependency and recurring revenue from repeat issues.
RiskPod’s model is different: support that empowers, not entraps.
"The world won't run out of remediation needs - but that doesn’t mean every firm has to stay stuck in the same loop."
Mark Weclawek, CEO, RiskPod
RiskPod is rewriting the rules of compliance consulting. Its community-led marketplace and proprietary platform assemble elite compliance teams on-demand - delivering big-firm results without the overhead, bureaucracy, or “consultant-speak.”
Built for speed, trust, and truly global scale, RiskPod replaces bloated legacy models with a tech-enabled approach that spins up the right experts in real time. The mission is simple: unlock a massive services market by making compliance agile, transparent, and effortlessly scalable.
It’s the process of reviewing and correcting failures in compliance or customer treatment, usually identified through audits or regulatory investigation.
Because regulated environments are complex and dynamic. Issues may go undetected for years, only surfacing under scrutiny or as part of legacy system reviews.
RiskPod provides rapid access to vetted compliance professionals who help firms scale and deliver remediation projects efficiently and effectively.
A single KYC file review can cost up to $2,500. For firms with thousands of records, the costs escalate quickly - especially if resourcing is outsourced last minute.
No. RiskPod also supports fintechs, law firms, crypto platforms, and fiduciaries. Any regulated entity facing regulatory exposure can benefit from remediation expertise.
Shift from PPI to Car Finance Claims: New Compensation Wave, Reclaim247, 2025
Car Finance Mis-Selling Update: Regulator Prepares for Compensation Scheme, MoneySavingExpert, 2025
Financial Stability in Focus: The FPC’s Macroprudential Approach to Operational Resilience, Bank of England, 2024
EMEA AML Survey 2024, PwC, 2024
Fenergo KYC Trends Report, Fenergo, 2023
AMLD4/AMLD5 KYCC - Know Your Compliance Costs, FStech, 2017
Four Regulatory Priorities to Drive Financial Institutions’ Focus in 2025, EY, 2025
New UK Regulatory Landscape: Enforcement and Supervision Shift, A&O Shearman, 2025
The Hidden Risk of AI in Financial Compliance: Are You Prepared?, The Payments Association, 2025
UK Regulators Aim to Balance AI Innovation and Risk, Moody’s, 2025
Recruitment Market Update 2024 - Compliance and Financial Crime, Barclay Simpson, 2024
Sam Kendall, 24.06.2025