Home topics news News News You built the product. You found the market. Now the regulator is coming Yajush Gupta February 23, 2026 Canadian regulators issued $25 million in penalties in a single year. Regulatory expert Harrison Jordan tells Dynamic Business why Australian startups face the same risk. What’s happening : Regulatory enforcement against fast-growing companies is intensifying on both sides of the Pacific. In Canada, anti-money laundering regulator FINTRAC issued 23 notices of violation in 2025 totalling more than $25 million, according to Substance Law founder Harrison Jordan. Why this matters : For Australian startup founders in fintech, payments, crypto and adjacent sectors, the regulatory environment has shifted. By February 2025, AUSTRAC had already taken action against 13 crypto remittance and digital currency exchange providers, with over 50 more under investigation. There is a version of startup success that ends not with an acquisition or an IPO, but with a letter from a regulator. For founders in fintech and payments, that scenario is becoming less theoretical. Harrison Jordan, Founder of Substance Law, a Toronto-based firm specialising in regulatory compliance for highly regulated industries, has watched the pattern repeat. “Growth creates blind spots,” he says. “The systems that worked early on break down, and by the time founders realise there’s a problem, they’re already facing enforcement action.” Growth creates blind spots Jordan’s observations are drawn from the Canadian context, but the structural problem he describes is not unique to any single jurisdiction. In 2025, Canada’s anti-money laundering regulator FINTRAC issued