The rapid ascent in popularity of private funds in recent years has coincided with increased duties for their respective legal and compliance departments. To stay ahead of those issues, the industry has increasingly turned to regulatory technology (RegTech) to aid in quickly and efficiently performing certain compliance functions. As a sign of RegTech’s value to the industry, the SEC and other regulators have also eagerly adopted technology to become more proficient and effective at monitoring registered funds and managers. The evolution of RegTech and recent trends in the area were examined in an ACA Compliance Group (ACA) program featuring Dan Campbell, partner and managing director; Raj Bakhru, partner and chief innovation officer; and Carlo di Florio, partner and global services officer. This first article in a two-part series outlines the evolution of RegTech in the private funds industry; the current and future scope of its adoption; and ways the SEC is using RegTech. The second article will describe how fund managers can use RegTech for their compliance efforts, as well as emerging technology in this area that managers can use going forward. For additional commentary from ACA, see our two-part series on 2020 SEC activity: “Challenges, Rulemaking and Guidance” (Feb. 4, 2021); and “Examination and Enforcement Trends” (Feb. 18, 2021).