Cockroach Labs and PwC UK have announced a partnership aimed at mitigating the risks, costs, and complexities associated with regulatory compliance and mainframe modernisation. This collaboration will provide solutions to banks and financial institutions dealing with evolving regulatory demands related to operational resiliency, business continuity, and data sovereignty.

The partnership will address the need for financial institutions to adapt to modern customer expectations and industry-wide cost optimisation by migrating from legacy mainframes. The collaboration focuses on developing end-to-end solutions that improve operational resilience, particularly in light of stringent EU regulations and recent guidelines from the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Cockroach Labs, known for its cloud-native distributed SQL database CockroachDB, has been selected by Form3, a global payment technology platform, to support its scalable multi-cloud infrastructure.

This infrastructure is designed to withstand cloud vendor outages and ensure uninterrupted network connectivity across multiple data centres. Data sovereignty remains a complex issue due to varying global privacy rules and regulatory approaches. PwC UK aims to assist global firms in navigating these challenges by providing strategies that align with evolving data sovereignty regulations.

CockroachDB’s multi-region and hybrid deployment capabilities are intended to help organisations comply with diverse data residency requirements. Mainframe modernisation is another key focus of the partnership. PwC UK will work with Cockroach Labs to help clients overcome challenges associated with legacy databases, thereby reducing operational costs, improving business agility, and attracting new talent.

The strategic collaboration aims to address issues ranging from mainframe modernisation to operational resiliency and data sovereignty. Details about regulatory developments Recent regulatory developments have reshaped the financial services landscape, with key frameworks like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) guidelines setting new standards for operational resilience. DORA mandates that financial institutions across the EU must ensure their IT systems are robust enough to withstand severe disruptions, emphasising the need for multi-region and multi-cloud strategies.

Similarly, the PRA's supervisory statement highlights the necessity for firms to address concentration risks and develop comprehensive business continuity plans. These regulations reflect a broader shift towards stringent oversight aimed at safeguarding financial stability in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. .