Leo RegTech: Compliance Automation Trailblazer Europe 2026
Leo RegTech began as compliance software built inside Laven Group, the consultancy and UK regulatory hosting business founded by Jerome Lussan in 2005 after leaving his legal career at Jones Day and working for a hedge fund. When the group narrowed its focus from consulting to scalable RegTech in 2022, the platform became a standalone SaaS business. That origin remains material: Leo was built by compliance practitioners, with usability, audit trails and regulatory responsiveness embedded from the start.
The firm supports more than 200 clients, primarily across the UK, France and the US, with more than 5,000 users. Client assets under management range from $5m to more than $60bn, indicating relevance to smaller regulated firms and complex institutions alike.
As described to the panel, the defining strategic choice has been to keep product development close to compliance users. Leo maintains a client wish list, converts recurring needs into its technology roadmap, and keeps front-end teams in direct contact with developers. This reduces the risk of building functionality that is technically interesting but operationally marginal.
Execution is visible in the platform’s coverage of monitoring, employee attestations, approvals, e-learning, client onboarding KYC, product due diligence and audit trails. The consultancy workflows now embedded in Leo reportedly achieve time savings of about 40 percent, a useful indicator of practical efficiency.
The company moved early on AI, in 2023, with Eva AI already live as a regulatory assistant, financial-promotion reviewer and policy-drafting tool. Further tools are in development for RFP responses, operational due diligence and data management from Leo to Eva AI. Its leadership frames automation in jurisdictional terms, noting that UK and US requirements differ: an appropriately controlled approach.
Independent of private equity ownership, Leo is free to prioritise client utility and regulatory fit over short-term monetisation. The Capital Finance International (CFI.co) Judging Panel congratulates Leo RegTech on winning the Compliance Automation Trailblazer Europe 2026 award.
