Emma RadmoreFCA’s latest “market watch” focuses on the results of a recent review of market abuse systems and controls in market making firms. Its review threw up some alarming conclusions, including considerable variance in awareness of market abuse risks outside the compliance teams. It found firms were better aware of the need for information barriers, but that nevertheless the position of senior management could lead to conflicts and that the level of documented wall-crossing procedures was poor. It also looked at surveillance techniques and found that some firms could not show how their techniques are fit for purpose. Given its findings, FCA will continue to monitor this area and may conduct some deep dives into individual firms. The rest of the issue is devoted to an update on payment for order flow, looking at FCA’s work to date and planning ahead for the changes MiFID 2 will require it to make.
