Surveillance data is no longer solely a compliance tool. It is a strategic asset that can power smarter trading decisions and strengthen a firm’s ability to manage market-abuse risk.
As trading environments grow more complex and regulatory expectations rise, firms must extract greater value from the data they already collect. Surveillance data spans the full trade lifecycle and, when used effectively, can inform investment decisions, reduce duplication, and reveal hidden risks.
Regulatory Pressure and Missed Opportunities
Regulators across major financial jurisdictions – including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and UAE regulators FSRA and DFSA – are tightening expectations around transaction reporting and surveillance. Recent fines highlight the cost of poor data quality and fragmented controls.
Matthew Oswald
In addition to the risk of enforcement, firms are missing a bigger opportunity to use surveillance data to create front-office value.
These shifts reflect a global trend toward more assertive, data-driven supervision. Regulators are no longer satisfied with static compliance programs; they expect surveillance to be proactive, integrated, and continuously evolving.
From pre-trade intent to post-trade execution, surveillance data provides insight into trading behaviors, control effectiveness, and operational efficiency. For the front office, it can also inform research, uncover trading patterns, and support alpha-generating strategies.
When used effectively, surveillance becomes a source of competitive advantage, not just a compliance obligation.
Unlocking the Data’s Strategic Power
Surveillance data is a firm-wide asset. When shared across departments, it fosters collaboration between compliance, risk, operations, and the front office. It helps identify inefficiencies, reinforce conduct standards, and support strategic decision-making.
Marc Salter
By breaking down silos, firms can turn surveillance into a unifying force that drives both regulatory readiness and commercial performance.
Yet many firms still treat surveillance as a compliance tool, disconnected from broader business strategy. This siloed approach limits visibility and leaves firms exposed to market-abuse risks that span asset classes, trading strategies, and internal processes.
Take a Lifecycle-Wide Approach
To stay ahead, firms should adopt a structured, lifecycle-wide approach to market abuse risk by:
- Evaluating how people, processes, and technology interact across the trade lifecycle.
- Connecting surveillance data to governance, conduct, and control reviews.
- Using insights to inform both compliance and front-office decision-making.
Surveillance data should be continuously updated to reflect evolving trading activity and regulatory expectations. Partnering with an experienced third party can help firms unlock the full strategic potential of their surveillance data, without adding operational burden.
Matthew Oswald is a Managing Director in the FCA regulatory advisory team at ACA Group, based in London, helping clients to bridge the gap between regulatory requirements and compliance strategy, technology, investment and operational processes, at both an operational and executive level.
He brings a wealth of experience in regulatory compliance and consulting across a broad spectrum of financial services businesses including hedge funds, traditional asset managers, sovereign wealth funds and investment banks. Prior to ACA, Matthew worked at Jain Global and has also held senior compliance roles at Squarepoint, Citadel and ADIA. Before these in-house compliance roles he worked in consulting at PwC and EY.
Marc Salter is Director of Client Development, leading EMEA sales for ACA’s ComplianceAlpha, the regulatory technology platform that transforms risk and compliance management for over 1,000 financial services firms worldwide. He has worked in financial services for more than 20 years. Most recently he held roles at Rimes Technologies, Nasdaq and Cappitech, providing the asset management community with regulatory technology (regtech) products and services. Prior to that, he spent 15 years providing algorithmic trading products to hedge funds, asset managers, investment banks and brokerages, working at firms including Deutsche Bank, Citi, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Bloomberg.
Topics: Regulation & Compliance, Data