Firms struggle to keep pace with market abuse regulations despite confidence in wider compliance capabilities

Half (49%) of global regulatory leaders report staying abreast of changes in market abuse regulations as a challenge

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, March 5, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The majority (63%) of global regulatory leaders say it is easy for their firm to stay up to date with evolving regulations. However, half of leaders (49%) report that keeping up with regulatory changes related to market abuse is one of their most significant compliance challenges.

That’s according to eflow Global, a leading provider of regulatory compliance technology, which surveyed 300 senior executives in the finance industry across the UK, US, Europe and APAC.

The findings reveal a stark disparity between firms’ perceived confidence in their overall compliance and the increasingly complex challenge of tackling market abuse effectively. This disconnect is even more pronounced in the UK, where the majority (65%) of regulatory leaders cite keeping up with changing market abuse regulations as one of their main compliance challenges, compared to just 43% in the US. These statistics come against a backdrop of a 260% year-on-year increase in market abuse-related enforcement actions in 2024.

Combatting market abuse remains a challenge

When it comes to challenges relating to market abuse, almost half of global regulatory leaders (46%) outlined the detection of insider trading and market manipulation as a key concern. Other significant challenges highlighted by respondents included managing the volume of false positive alerts (43%) and accurately configuring their trade surveillance system (33%).

The research also revealed that 37% of firms saw the integration of their trade and eComms surveillance as a significant challenge to achieving a holistic regulatory strategy. This comes as the report reveals that regulatory enforcement actions taken by global regulators against firms for eComms surveillance failures total USD $3.179 billion between 2019 to 2024.

Bridging the gap

Despite the regulatory challenges firms face, the survey also identified opportunities to improve compliance efforts, with 58% of global leaders stating that greater transparency around regulator expectations and enforcement actions would better support firms. Furthermore, 48% believe that closer collaboration between regulators and compliance teams would help firms meet their regulatory requirements more effectively.

“The results of our research highlight the ongoing challenge that firms face in implementing a strategy that is robust enough to prevent market abuse, while being agile enough to adapt to an unprecedented variety of market forces,” said Ben Parker, CEO at eflow Global. “With evolving regulations, insider trading detection, and data integration issues creating mounting pressure, firms need to leverage innovative compliance technologies to navigate these challenges effectively. At eflow Global, we are committed to empowering firms with solutions that enhance regulatory clarity and improve surveillance outcomes.”

Further issues and findings are detailed in eflow Global’s Global Trends in Market Abuse and Trade Surveillance 2025 Report, available for download here.

Roseanna Lane
CommsCo
rlane@thecommsco.com