According to SteelEye’s 2023 Annual Compliance Health Check Report, integrated surveillance is now a key investment area for over a quarter of financial firms — 26 per cent, compared to 13 per cent in 2022.
The increased demand for integrated surveillance comes amid a market spike in regulatory scrutiny of market manipulation, specifically regarding communications and trade surveillance, the software company found.
Integrated surveillance refers to the ability to holistically combine, monitor, and analyse structured and unstructured data across trades, orders, communications and contextual sources such as news and market data.
Doing so can uncover risks that otherwise go unnoticed when trade and communications surveillance systems are siloed. It also enables firms to carry out trade reconstructions without missing the regulatory deadline. This is something financial firms globally continue to struggle with, SteelEye affirms.
Matt Smith, CEO of SteelEye, says: "Compliance departments of global financial institutions have never been under the level of pressure they are today. While regulatory rules haven't changed much in recent years, the expectations of regulators are higher than ever given how advanced technology in this space has become.
"To meet regulatory demand, financial firms need to get better at detecting potential market manipulation. However, they won't be able to do that if they continue to grapple with a proliferation of data, systems, and platforms.
“As stretched compliance teams confront a seemingly endless list of challenges, integrated surveillance will be critical in helping firms successfully navigate an increasingly complex and data-dependent regulatory environment."
