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June 17, 2026
What's at risk from a poorly localised financial website
Translation errors can have serious consequences for financial organisations, including regulatory fines, withdrawal of marketing material, publishing issues and damage to brand reputation.
This guide explains what counts as regulated content, the common challenges when adapting them for new markets and how to stay compliant at all stages of the process.
What is regulated content in the financial industry?
Regulated content refers to content whose messaging, wording and formatting are governed by laws and regulations. Common examples of regulated content in the financial sector include (but are not limited to):
Financial organisations have to ensure these types of content comply with relevant rules which are typically enforced by national authorities, such as BaFin in Germany, CNMV in Spain and the CSSF in Luxembourg. Regulations exist to ensure fairness, transparency, accuracy, privacy and clarity for consumers and investors.
Common challenges, risks and mistakes when translating regulated documents
1. Inconsistent terminology
A regulated term translated differently across an organisation’s documents can change its legal meaning. The same defined term has to be consistent everywhere it appears, or the content may be in breach of the “faithful and accurate” standard required by law.
2. Poor understanding of local regulations
Regulations are typically set by each jurisdiction, so a document approved in the source market may not be compliant in the target market. While rules may be broadly similar between regions, differences and nuances do exist, and not understanding these can lead to non-compliance.
3. Mistranslated numbers and legal terms
When using a generalist translator or LLM to translate regulated documents, common errors can arise, such as incorrect number formats and inaccurate translations when there’s no exact equivalent for a legal concept or financial product.
For example, “a billion” in English means a thousand million, while in Spanish, “un billón” is a million million. A non-specialist translator or machine translation system not trained for financial terminology may overlook this and incorrectly translate the term, which may lead to misreporting.
4. Weak and fragmented processes
Preparing and publishing regulated content in a different market is a multistep task that involves translation, formatting, legal review, sign-off and publication. When the different teams or technologies involved in each stage of the workflow aren’t aligned, the project may face delays, unnecessary rework and poor-quality output.
In the translation industry, this process is also governed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), specifically ISO 17100.
5. Security and confidentiality
Regulated content often contains personal data and sensitive or confidential financial information. When these aren’t handled securely (which includes pasting or uploading documents into public AI tools), organisations are at risk of leaks, market-abuse exposure and data breaches.
In the EU and UK, privacy and data security are regulated under GDPR. Fines for non-compliance can reach €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Ways to stay compliant when translating regulated content
How Peter & Clark can help
Peter & Clark has been helping financial organisations manage and publish multilingual regulated content safely and credibly since 1998. Our specialist, process-led solutions help banks, asset managers, insurers, fintechs and investment firms expand into new markets while remaining compliant with local laws and regulations.
Designed around recognised standards for translation, post-editing and information security, our tailored solutions include:
And more.
Moreover, you’ll count on a dedicated team who gets to know your organisation’s needs, preferences and content requirements, and who will always be there to advise, guide, and suggest improvements tailored to you.
FAQs about translating regulated content
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Prospectuses, PRIIPs KIDs, UCITS KIIDs, fund factsheets, annual and financial reports, financial promotions, terms and conditions, client agreements, disclaimers, risk warnings, insurance documents and regulatory filings. In short, any type of content whose wording, disclosures or format is governed by financial regulation.
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There’s no fixed price for translating regulated content, as the cost depends on the number of languages, the volume and complexity of content, the level of compliance review, certification needs (sworn or certified), and any DTP, formatting or accessibility work required.
Costs can also vary depending on how many providers are involved. Sourcing translation, compliance review, typesetting, and accessibility remediation separately often means paying multiple markups and coordination overheads across vendors. Working with a single, all-in-one provider consolidates these services under one workflow and one point of contact, which typically reduces both cost and project risk.
We assess your requirements first, and our specialist advisory team recommends the most suitable, and cost-effective approach for your needs.
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Not on their own. Raw machine or LLM output carries risk for regulated content, errors in meaning, numbers, disclosures and confidentiality. Used without safeguards, LLMs can create more compliance exposure than they save in time.
Used correctly, AI can safely speed up the process. We combine finance-specialised AI with expert human post-editing (as per ISO 18587), so every piece of content is reviewed before it’s published. This gives you the speed of automation with none of the compliance risk. It’s also important to note that machine translation is not recommended for every language pair or every type of document. Our team assess each project individually and will evaluate your specific needs and determine the best approach.