By Lee Holmes, CEO, INFINOX
Global financial services are entering a new era. One defined by dynamic regulation, technological acceleration, and shifting investor expectations. For businesses navigating this transformation, it’s no longer just about capital and compliance. The real differentiator lies in understanding the nuances: building operational structures that scale, interpreting diverse regulatory regimes, and responding to the cultural and behavioural subtleties that define trust in each market.
At INFINOX, we operate across multiple continents with clients in over 15 countries and offices in the UK, South Africa, the UAE, Latin America and Southeast Asia. We know firsthand that growing a truly global financial business is as much an exercise in local empathy as it is in global ambition.
It’s my view that the future of global finance will belong to those who build businesses on strong, agile foundations. That starts with structure. Whether it’s compliance reporting, client onboarding, risk management or liquidity provision, the ability to create and replicate robust frameworks across jurisdictions is paramount.
Too often, financial firms prioritise speed of expansion over quality of infrastructure. But growth without structure is fragile. At INFINOX, we are taking a deliberate approach, by scaling only when our people, systems and oversight can support it. Our transformation into a multi-jurisdictional group with tiered leadership and regional centres of excellence is a reflection of that ethos.
This is especially relevant in today’s environment, where regulators are increasing expectations around governance and transparency. A compliance-first mindset must be hardwired from day one and not treated as a retrofit once scale is achieved.
Financial services remain one of the most tightly regulated industries in the world, but what that regulation looks like varies significantly. From MiFID II in Europe to the FSCA in South Africa and the DFSA in Dubai, each jurisdiction sets its own tempo. Understanding these differences isn’t just a legal necessity, it’s a strategic advantage.
Take, for instance, the evolving regulatory tone around leveraged trading products. In the UK and EU, caps on leverage and negative balance protection are firmly in place, while in other parts of the world, higher leverage is still available, but with increasing scrutiny. We’ve learned that local regulation often reflects local attitudes to risk, and therefore, to trust. Tailoring our offering and risk disclosures to reflect those expectations is essential to protecting both our business and our clients.
Moreover, compliance isn’t only about the rulebook. In some regions, relationships with regulators are built through ongoing dialogue and demonstration of intent, not just paperwork. In others, a more formal, audit-driven approach prevails. Knowing when to lead with substance and when to lead with formality is a subtle but critical skill in global financial management.
While regulation provides the legal boundaries, culture defines the unwritten rules of financial engagement. In Latin America, clients may value a more personal, relationship-led approach, where trust is built over time through consistent service and education. In Southeast Asia, efficiency and responsiveness – often enabled by technology – may carry more weight.
These aren’t stereotypes; they’re patterns of expectation that influence how people engage with financial services. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. Our team in Vietnam operates very differently from our team in Johannesburg or Dubai, not because the product changes, but because the way value is perceived differs.
This cultural fluency becomes even more important as retail participation in financial markets increases. New generations of investors, particularly in emerging markets, are entering with different risk appetites, digital behaviours and service expectations. To serve them well, we must not only understand what they want, but how they want to be served.
In today’s interconnected world, strategic partnerships are central to progress. While much of the narrative in recent years has focused on how agile new entrants are disrupting legacy institutions, we believe the future lies in a more collaborative evolution.
Reputation still matters, enormously so. Even among younger, digitally native clients, there remains a deep respect for financial institutions that have demonstrated resilience, stability and integrity over time. For challengers like INFINOX, is to first complement and enhance what the old guard has built, and then take it to the next level.
That’s why we recently partnered with BMO, one of North America’s most respected and established financial institutions. For us, this wasn’t just a commercial decision, it was a signal of intent. In the new era of financial services, trust must be both earned and inherited. Working with institutions that have decades of credibility in their markets allows us to accelerate our growth while deepening our commitment to excellence.
The whole ecosystem is moving forward together. Fintechs, brokers, banks and infrastructure providers must work not in isolation but in concert. The new benchmark isn’t being a disruptor, it’s being a builder. And to build well, you must partner wisely.
At INFINOX, we’ve invested heavily in user experience, multilingual support, and partner ecosystems like our IX Partners programme, which enables local brokers, educators and entrepreneurs to deliver tailored financial services in their own markets. These initiatives are not just commercial, they’re strategic. They enable us to build communities of trust and relevance in regions where global brands must work harder to earn local legitimacy.
Moreover, we are seeing a shift in the industry’s leadership culture. Operational excellence is no longer the sole preserve of the back office, it is a boardroom priority. The future of finance is neither purely centralised nor purely decentralised. It is global, but localised. Fast-moving, but structurally sound. And increasingly, it is human-led as much as it is tech-enabled.
Leaders in this new era must embrace paradox. They must scale while remaining nimble. Innovate while remaining compliant. Globalise while remaining deeply sensitive to local context. And above all, they must recognise that trust, built over decades or earned in moments, is the currency on which everything else depends.
At INFINOX, we see these challenges not as constraints but as the defining opportunities of the next decade. We are building a business that reflects not just where the market is, but where it’s going.
Global financial services are no longer just about money. They are about meaning. And the firms that thrive will be those who understand how to build both.
