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: Managing Off-Channel Communications Compliance

Managing off-channel communications – business interactions occurring outside of approved corporate systems – continues to challenge firms’ compliance efforts. The rise of personal messaging apps, social media, and other unmonitored channels – for example, messaging functionality embedded in an order management system – exposes firms to substantial regulatory risk. Enforcement actions by regulatory bodies, such...

BLOG

Leveraging Data as a Differentiator

What’s the key to unlocking real value in AI, trading strategies, and market analytics? High-quality historical data. Live from TradingTech Summit London, this episode of FinTech Focus TV dives into the evolution of historical market data and its role in shaping smarter trading decisions. Toby sits down with Elliot Banks, Chief Product Officer at BMLL,...

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...