The FCA has published the latest edition of Market Watch (issue 48), its newsletter on market conduct and transaction reporting issues.

This issue of Market Watch covers the following:

  • Trade volume advertising: considerations for firms and individuals relating to risks of market abuse. The FCA states that market participants have raised concerns regarding firms publishing incorrect trading volume data in the equity market. The article in this Market Watch aims to highlight the possible market abuse risks related to this practice, and help firms and individual traders who are employed by a firm that advertise trading volumes to consider these risks;
  • Observations from suspicious transaction reporting (STR) supervisory visits. In previous editions of Market Watch the FCA has noted that it has been undertaking a series of supervisory visits to a variety of firms in order to better understand and assess the way in which potential incidents of market abuse are being identified by authorised firms. This includes looking at how staff escalate their concerns to compliance and how compliance identifies potential incidents of market abuse through surveillance. The FCA states that its visit programme continues and forms part of its ongoing STR supervisory work. The article presents some themes and observations from the visits undertaken in 2013 and 2014; and
  • Direct Electronic Access (DEA) pre-trade controls. In this article the FCA sets out its high level observations which may provide an opportunity for firms to review the systems and controls around their automated and direct market access.

View Market Watch 48, 22 June 2015