Rolf Haudenschild, Head of Regulatory Compliance Services at Alpadis, brings over two decades of experience spanning Switzerland's financial regulator (FINMA), major banks, and his own consultancy firm, Ingenia Consultants, which joined Alpadis in 2025.
Rolf leads Alpadis' regulatory services for financial institutions across Singapore and the wider Asia region. His team supports fund managers, including external asset managers/multi-family offices, financial advisers, payment institutions and other regulated entities in licensing, compliance, including anti-money laundering, policies and procedures, and regulatory reporting, as well as internal audit.
Here, he discusses his journey from regulator to advisor, the evolving compliance landscape in Asia, the role of RegTech in modern compliance functions, and his vision for expanding Alpadis' regulatory services across the region.
Career journey
You have worked across law firms, regulatory authorities, banks, and your own consultancy. Can you walk us through your professional journey and what led you to specialise in regulatory compliance for financial institutions?
My legal training provided me with important skills to understand and apply regulations. Working in the legal department of UBS group allowed me to have deeper insights into the topics relevant to financial institutions, in particular governance issues under financial regulations. At the same time, I expanded my legal knowledge in finance by attending different trainings.
In my next position, at the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, a predecessor of FINMA, I worked on policies, giving me a high level understanding of the regulators objectives, and applied specific regulations in enforcement cases against persons carrying out regulated activities without the required licence and in procedures against licenced financial institutions. It was a rewarding experience to serve society.
Driven to learn more about the workings of finance, in particular the legal frameworks underpinning it, I took a break from work to read an LLM in International Financial Law at King's College London. This opened my eyes to the differences of regulations in different jurisdictions, an understanding that is still most valuable in my daily work with financial institutions in Singapore. In addition, I forged friendships around the world.
My next exploration took me to Singapore, where I first worked in customer onboarding compliance at Bank of Singapore, before establishing the consultancy that is today Alpadis Regulatory Services.
From regulator to advisor
Having served as an attorney at Switzerland's financial regulator (FINMA) and worked in compliance at major banks, how has this combination of public- and private-sector experience shaped your approach to advising clients today?
My time with the Swiss financial regulator, mostly with the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, a predecessor of FINMA, taught me valuable lessons about the objectives of financial regulation: customer and investor protection, and protection of the financial system to safeguard the economy overall.
In the banks, the focus was on the practical implementation of the regulations and the efficient execution of compliance work. A balance must be struck between the risks to the financial institution and the cost of the control measures. This also applies in our support services to financial institutions. We constantly thrive to find practical, proficient solutions that enable our clients’ business without exposing them to undue risk.
Similarly, I have learned a lot about the challenges of running a company through establishing and managing Ingenia Consultants Pte. Ltd. Managing a company is not only about the execution of work but entails the establishment and maintenance of processes and systems. Your staff is core to your operations. This experience makes me appreciate the challenges that our clients face operating a financial institution.
My own management experience has shown me that you must maintain a general overview of your business and the risks that it is exposed to. Shortfalls in our business will not only impact us, but also our clients. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that our business operates competently. This is also what the regulator wants. You must be aware of the risks of your business and be adequately prepared to deal with them.
Founding Ingenia
What inspired you to establish Ingenia Consultants in Singapore, and how has the compliance landscape changed since you started the business?
Having briefly worked at a bank in onboarding compliance, I was looking for a more comprehensive challenge. This led me to join a friend and establish an independent compliance practice under his brand, Maroon Analytics. Eventually, I found new partners. Together we wanted to provide comprehensive support services to external asset managers and Ingenia Consultants Pte. Ltd. was established. Ultimately, only the regulatory support services prospered. Having built Ingenia as a leading provider of regulatory services in Singapore, we finally took the challenge to expand our services, and this time also our geographical remit, by joining Alpadis.
Key compliance challenges
From your perspective, what are the biggest compliance and risk management challenges boutique and mid-sized financial institutions face in Singapore and the wider Asia region today?
Over the past years, the MAS has consistently focused on anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations and their implementation - at times a little less, and more in the aftermath of larger money laundering cases. Aside from that, MAS has been working on the safeguarding of customers and investors and the financial system. As market values remain high but volatility and risk increase, topics like investor information are likely to come to the forefront again. All financial institutions must ensure that they properly document their investment decisions and recommendations. Moreover, financial institutions must ensure that they have comprehensive risk management in place that identifies their risks and the measures to mitigate them. Boutique and mid-sized financial institutions may not have the required skills for this in place and may find it hard to dedicate sufficient resources to it.
Role of RegTech
You have been active in the Singapore FinTech Association's RegTech sub-committee. How do you see RegTech transforming compliance functions over the next five years?
RegTech has become an integral part of compliance programmes. Tasks, such as screening, cannot be properly carried out anymore without the use of a RegTech tool. In many other aspects, specialised RegTech tools can facilitate financial institutions' work and oversight of their operations. Processes can be executed more thoroughly and more consistently. Management can have a better overview to focus on the true risks of the company.
However, many financial institutions struggle with the implementation of RegTech solutions. The financial institution does not have the money or the skills to implement the RegTech tool. In such instances, service providers like Alpadis can be an important facilitator. We use RegTech tools, make them available to our clients, and work towards their tailoring to the specific financial institution.
Vision for Alpadis Regulatory Compliance Services
With Ingenia now part of Alpadis, what is your vision for building and expanding the Regulatory Compliance Services division, both in Singapore and regionally?
We aim for Alpadis to become a technology-enabled, leading provider of regulatory support to financial institutions. On the one hand, we want to implement further RegTech tools to enhance the speed and standard of our services. In parallel, our team constantly exchanges information and experiences to ensure their skills remain up to date. On the other hand, we are striving to expand internationally.
Regional opportunities
Beyond Singapore, which markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East do you see as having the greatest potential for Alpadis' expanded compliance services, and why?
Asian markets have been growing strongly over the past years. Hong Kong is rebounding. At the same time, the United Arab Emirates enjoyed spectacular growth until the war in Iran started. Having travelled to the UAE on multiple occasions over the past years, I remain convinced that this market will continue growing, drawing on the openness of its people and the vision set by the government.
Future of financial services regulation
In your view, how will evolving regulations, particularly in areas like digital assets, ESG, and cross-border data, impact financial institutions in Asia over the coming decade?
Financial services regulation will continue to follow the risk cycles. Regulators are observing the increasing value held in non-bank financial institutions, to facilitate payments or for investment purposes. Payment institutions will continue to face scrutiny on AML and CFT. In contrast, investment institutions will need to focus on their risk management, including environmental risks that can impact any investment, and the proper information of their customers. Social media has opened new channels for marketing and incentive structures. They must be used with due care to avoid customer complaints in the medium and longer term.
Outside of compliance
Outside of compliance and regulatory work, what is one personal passion or interest that helps you switch off and recharge?
My biggest passion is nature: I like to go on walks or trekking tours when time allows - unfortunately, the climate in Singapore is not particularly conducive for this. I also tend to our garden on our balcony, and love watching documentaries.
As part of my passion for nature and to provide people in a less-fortunate environment with an opportunity, I helped found and establish a safari company in Tanzania, Soaring Flamingo. Today, it is entirely operated by Tanzanians and a collaboration in France.
