About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Technology Catches Up To Regulators’ Monitoring Demands

Subscribe to our newsletter

Conducting a simple real-time statistical analysis of financial market activity does not necessarily require “sophisticated AI or machine learning,” says Guy Warren, CEO of ITRS, an application performance management and big data analytics provider.

The purpose of conducting such an analysis is to determine when a circuit breaker kicks in to catch and stop algorithmic trading activity that has exceeded volatility limits, whether that halt of trading was warranted, or what caused it. ITRS real-time monitoring and analytics tools let it act directly on a client’s behalf, triggering a “kill switch” or “pause,” so people can manually investigate relevant trading and market data, Warren explains.

Regulators are trying to get greater control and specificity around the use of such sudden stops of market activity, adds Warren.

“Regulators are right to push for firms to have the ability to catch fluctuations and pause activity,” he says. “They increased the number of liquidity venues subject to a requirement to catch fluctuations — in response to a very large OTC presence which they thought might be manipulated.”

The regulatory push is driving more interest in implementing circuit breakers, but regulators’ wishes appear to now be better timed. Technological capabilities now make it possible to monitor ticks for 1 million instruments coming from different asset classes and regions, in a manner that was impossible four years ago. As a result, the position of some regulators that firms ought to be able to monitor all the instruments they are dealing with is now feasible when it wasn’t before, Warren explains.

Better technology makes it possible for computers to check market news that is triggering extreme price changes and evaluation if those fluctuations are genuine, he observes. “Telling if what’s happening is right can be done cost-effectively,” says Warren. “That’s not only on liquidity venues, because they have a matching engine or it’s not too hard to build one in, but on trading venues, it is possible. Most regulation will come in on trading venues, because that’s the safest place to try to catch [an unjust fluctuation]. The trading venues are trying to stop participants from putting bad trades or rogue data into the marketplace.”

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: Best practice approaches to data management for regulatory reporting

Effective regulatory reporting requires firms to manage vast amounts of data across multiple systems, regions, and regulatory jurisdictions. With increasing scrutiny from regulators and the rising complexity of financial instruments, the need for a streamlined and strategic approach to data management has never been greater. Financial institutions must ensure accuracy, consistency, and timeliness in their...

BLOG

big xyt Enters Bidding to Become EU Equities and ETFs Consolidated Tape Provider

Data analytics specialist big xyt has formally declared its intention to compete for the role of official provider of the EU Consolidated Tape (CT) for equities and ETFs, under the selection process overseen by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). big xyt’s entry into the process comes amid industry concerns over a lack of...

EVENT

AI in Capital Markets Summit New York

The AI in Capital Markets Summit will explore current and emerging trends in AI, the potential of Generative AI and LLMs and how AI can be applied for efficiencies and business value across a number of use cases, in the front and back office of financial institutions. The agenda will explore the risks and challenges of adopting AI and the foundational technologies and data management capabilities that underpin successful deployment.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...