Real-Time Compliance Logging in Financial Smart Contracts Using Blockchain Anchoring

Abstract

Real-time regulatory compliance has become a critical requirement in modern financial ecosystems, especially as automated payment workflows and smart contracts increasingly replace traditional transactional systems. This paper proposes a blockchain-anchored compliance logging framework that ensures immutable, transparent, and verifiable auditability for financial smart contracts. The system integrates Ethereum-based smart contract components with enterprise resource planning (ERP) audit logs to generate tamper-proof compliance evidence trails. Execution metadata—such as user identities, timestamps, jurisdictional attributes, and transaction states—are continuously anchored to a public or consortium blockchain layer using Merkle-based hashing. This anchoring provides cryptographic assurance of log integrity while reducing storage overhead in comparison to on-chain storage approaches. The proposed architecture supports high-frequency compliance checks and event-triggered validations required in real-time payment processing environments. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the system achieves low-latency log anchoring (<250 ms), high throughput, and strong resilience against tampering and rollback attacks. The framework offers a scalable RegTech solution capable of assisting financial institutions with audit readiness, automated compliance reporting, and fraud prevention. By bridging ERP systems, smart contracts, and blockchain anchoring mechanisms, this study highlights a significant advancement in achieving trustworthy and regulation-aware financial automation.