ACA Group, a governance, risk, and compliance advisor in financial services, has introduced its Market Abuse Risk Framework, a comprehensive solution aimed at assisting UK and European regulated buy-side firms in identifying, managing, and monitoring market abuse risks across their trading operations. This launch positions ACA Group as the first firm to offer a full spectrum of solutions for buy-side market abuse challenges.
The new framework integrates advisory services, outsourced managed support, and regulatory technology, enabling firms to respond to regulatory findings and enhance surveillance across the pre-trade through post-trade lifecycle. This initiative addresses increasing regulatory and investor scrutiny, particularly concerning adherence to the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR).
Regulatory pressure has intensified following the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recently announced five-year enforcement strategy, which prioritizes market abuse. This comes amid recent insider trading enforcement cases and a July 2025 consultation on SM&CR reforms, which seek to streamline the regime while upholding high standards of accountability. ACA Group’s solution provides a structured, regulator-ready framework that combines surveillance, conduct, and control reviews.
Built by practitioners with extensive buy-side experience, the framework offers insights into managing market abuse risks effectively across various asset classes and trading strategies. Raj Somal, ACA Group Partner, emphasized the solution’s depth of expertise. “Our clients are navigating increasingly-complex trading, and jurisdictional and infrastructure environments, and often without a clear, actionable view of their market abuse risk,” Somal stated. “This isn’t just a health check; it’s a dynamic, evolving programme that firms can use to strengthen governance, meet evolving regulatory and business expectations, and build investor confidence.”
The framework encompasses a proprietary matrix that maps market abuse offenses against trading activity across all asset classes. It includes reviews of surveillance systems, policies and procedures, Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports (STOR) procedures, information barriers, and related policies. Coverage extends to public and private assets, real assets, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), custom baskets, and algorithmic and quantitative strategies. Furthermore, it involves the evaluation and review of surveillance technology to ensure alignment with a firm’s market abuse risk profile and internal policies and procedures. A question bank, informed by ACA Group’s industry experience and updated through ongoing client engagements, is also part of the offering, alongside a reusable risk framework document with guidance on maintenance and updates.
This Market Abuse Risk Framework is part of ACA Group’s broader suite of solutions designed to enable firms to identify and address market abuse risks proactively. Through its ComplianceAlpha® regulatory technology platform, ACA Group provides integrated surveillance and monitoring capabilities throughout the trade lifecycle, including trade and eComms surveillance, conflicts of interest, and expert networks. These tools can be complemented by outsourced managed services and practitioner-led advisory support, facilitating remediation, governance enhancement, and ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements.
ACA Group, a leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisor in financial services for over 20 years, supports clients globally with a team of 1,400 employees, including former regulators. The firm integrates advisory, managed services, distribution solutions, and analytics with its ComplianceAlpha® technology platform. ACA Group is scheduled to host a live event on 23 October 2025 at 2:00 p.m. BST to discuss the increasing regulatory scrutiny surrounding market abuse, surveillance, and senior manager accountability.
