ACA Group Unveils Market Abuse Risk Framework for European Buy-Side Firms

ACA Group has launched a Market Abuse Risk Framework designed to help UK and European regulated buy-side firms identify, manage, and monitor market abuse risks across their trading activities.
 

The governance, risk, and compliance advisor in financial services said it is the first firm to launch a comprehensive framework for buy-side firms that offers the full range of solutions to address their challenges. Through a combination of advisory services, outsourced managed support, and regulatory technology, ACA enables firms to respond to findings and strengthen surveillance across the pre-trade through post-trade lifecycle.
 

Firms are under increasing scrutiny from regulators and investors to demonstrate robust controls and conduct frameworks aligned with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR). This pressure has intensified following the FCA's newly announced five-year enforcement strategy prioritising market abuse, recent insider trading enforcement cases, and the July 2025 consultation on SM&CR reforms aimed at streamlining the regime, while maintaining high standards of accountability.
 

ACA's solution delivers a structured, regulator-ready framework that integrates surveillance, conduct, and control reviews. Built by practitioners with experience across the buy-side, it reflects insight into market abuse risks and how to manage them effectively across asset classes and trading strategies.

 

Raj Somal, ACA Group Partner
 

"What truly differentiates this solution is the depth of expertise driving it. Our clients are navigating increasingly-complex trading, and jurisdictional and infrastructure environments, and often without a clear, actionable view of their market abuse risk. 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."

Raj Somal, ACA Group Partner

The framework includes a proprietary matrix mapping market abuse offences against trading activity across all asset classes, reviews of surveillance systems, policies and procedures, Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports procedures, information barriers, and related policies. It covers public and private assets, real assets, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), custom baskets, and algorithmic and quantitative strategies.
 

The framework also includes 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's industry experience and updated through ongoing client engagements, and delivery of a reusable risk framework document with guidance on maintenance and updates.
 

The framework is part of a broader suite of solutions designed to help firms not only identify market abuse risks but also take action to address them. Through the ComplianceAlpha® regulatory technology platform, ACA provides integrated surveillance and monitoring capabilities that span the entire trade lifecycle, including trade and eComms surveillance, conflicts of interest, as well as expert networks and research meetings. These tools can be combined with outsourced managed services and practitioner-led advisory support, enabling firms to remediate findings, enhance governance frameworks, and maintain ongoing compliance with evolving regulatory expectations.
 

ACA is hosting a live event on 23 October 2025 at 2:00 p.m. BST to explore the intensifying regulatory scrutiny around market abuse, surveillance, and senior manager accountability.
 

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