The Futures Industry Association (FIA) offered guidelines to aid market participants in meeting surveillance requirements under Article 16 of the Market Abuse Regulation, which requires that UK market participants establish and maintain sufficient procedures for detecting and reporting suspicious transactions.

The guidelines cover, among other things, the following aspects of market abuse surveillance:

  • risk assessments;
  • systems for surveillance, including designated individuals and teams;
  • the filing of suspicious transaction and order reports;
  • audits and annual reviews;
  • documentation and oversight;
  • client relationship management; and
  • recordkeeping.

FIA emphasized that its guidelines are not regulatory guidance and have not been authorized by any regulators.