Channel Bans Reach Four-Year High as Financial Services Firms Reassess Communications Compliance Strategies, New Global Relay Report Finds

Two-thirds of firms now prohibit communications channels - the highest level recorded in four years of Global Relay research - even as AI adoption accelerates across the industry.

NEW YORK -- Global Relay, a leading provider of digital communications governance and archiving solutions for global financial services and other highly regulated industries, today shared the findings of its Industry Insights Report 2026, which examines how compliance professionals in financial services are navigating communications governance, AI adoption, and evolving regulatory expectations.

The report found 66% of financial services firms now ban communications channels, the highest percentage recorded in the survey's four-year history and a significant increase from 41% in 2025. The findings also reveal notable regional differences in how organizations approach communications compliance. In North America, channel bans increased from 39% in 2025 to 67% in 2026. Meanwhile, EMEA financial services firms remain more likely to allow, capture, and monitor communications channels (52%).

AI adoption continues to accelerate, with 54% of firms not currently using AI for compliance or surveillance planning to introduce it within the next 12 months. Despite that momentum, 44% of respondents identified AI as the single biggest compliance challenge facing organizations in the year ahead.

"After years of investment in monitoring and surveillance technology, it's striking to see the pendulum swing back toward outright bans," says Rob Mason, Director, Regulatory Intelligence, Global Relay. "While restricting certain channels may appear to reduce risk, it doesn't eliminate the need for oversight. Employees will continue to communicate across a growing number of platforms, which means firms need policies, technology, and governance frameworks that can adapt as communications habits evolve."

Additional findings from the report include:

• Respondents were divided on the future of AI regulation, with 45% calling for more prescriptive requirements and 41% favoring greater clarity around existing regulatory expectations.

• Data analysis (54%), enhanced productivity (54%), and communications monitoring (43%) were identified as the most valuable compliance applications for AI.

• The biggest barriers to AI adoption are data security and privacy concerns (43%), a lack of regulatory clarity (38%), and concerns around explainability and transparency.

• Belief in the effectiveness of channel bans is increasing, rising from 31% of EMEA respondents in 2025 to 59% in 2026.

• North American firms identified data privacy concerns as the leading barrier to AI adoption (47%), while lack of regulatory clarity ranked highest among EMEA (42%) and Rest of World respondents (75%).

• Enhanced productivity was identified as the most valuable AI benefit among North American firms (59%), while voice transcription and translation ranked highest among EMEA (53%) and Rest of World respondents (80%).

"The findings show that firms are responding to the same compliance challenges in very different ways," said Ryan Sheridan, Director, Regulatory Intelligence, Global Relay. "In North America, many organizations are restricting communications channels as they expand their use of AI. In EMEA, firms are generally taking a more permissive approach, focusing on monitoring and oversight. For multinational organizations, that creates a real challenge: maintaining a consistent compliance program across markets with different regulatory expectations."

The Industry Insights Report 2026 provides an annual snapshot of the challenges, priorities, and technologies shaping compliance programs across financial services organizations worldwide.

About Global Relay

Global Relay is a leading provider of end-to-end compliance solutions for the global financial sector and other highly regulated industries. Founded in 1999, Global Relay delivers compliant communications solutions from our own Global Relay App, to intelligent archiving, superior data connectors, and AI-enabled surveillance. Global Relay’s integrated recordkeeping solutions enable regulated organizations to meet collaboration, privacy, and security requirements.