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Features in Transaction Surveillance Software
for Compliance and Risk Management
Tools that monitor trading activities, detect potential conflicts of interest, identify suspicious transactions, and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
We ask vendors to mark their product against our feature list. It is not available for all products and in some cases we have derived data from publicly available sources. The list of features follows. Vendors can add a further 10 key features of their own.
AML & Compliance Features
Specialized modules focused on supporting anti-money laundering frameworks and broader regulatory compliance.
- Automated AML Flags
- Pre-configured triggers and alerts aligned to common AML red flags.
- Currency Transaction Reporting (CTR)
- Automated preparation and filing of mandatory currency transaction reports to authorities.
- Geo-Fencing & Jurisdiction Tagging
- Automatic classification and monitoring by geographic areas of risk.
- Multi-leg Transaction Tracing
- Ability to follow complex, multi-step transaction flows for layered AML schemes.
- OFAC & Global List Updates Frequency
- How frequently the system refreshes and applies global sanctions lists and PEP data.
- Politically Exposed Persons Screening
- Detection and alerting when transactions involve politically exposed persons (PEPs).
- Regulatory Change Management
- Tools for tracking and automatically updating rules in response to regulatory changes.
- Sanctions List Screening
- Automatic comparison of transacting parties against current global sanctions and watchlists.
- Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Workflow
- Integrated tools for generating, tracking, and managing SAR filings.
- Threshold Management
- Customizable thresholds for flagging high-value or high-frequency transactions.
Alerting & Case Management
Features for generating, managing, escalating, and resolving alerts/cases arising from surveillance activities.
- Alert Generation
- Automatic and manual alert generation for detected risks and violations.
- Alert Prioritization
- Ability to score or prioritize alerts based on risk or urgency.
- Alert Resolution SLA Tracking
- Measurement of time taken from alert creation to resolution.
- Attachment & Evidence Management
- Support for linking supporting documents or evidence to a case.
- Audit Trail
- Comprehensive logs of all alert and case related actions for compliance.
- Automated Notifications
- System sends emails or in-app messages upon alert trigger or escalation.
- Bulk Alert Handling
- Processing, assigning, or closing multiple alerts at once.
- Case Management Workflow
- Integrated process for tracking, investigating, and documenting cases.
- Custom Alert Rules
- Users can define specific alert rules/templates as per firm policy.
- Role-based Escalation
- Automated alert/case escalation based on user roles or business rules.
Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Analytics
Use of machine learning, AI, and advanced data analytics to improve detection, reduce false positives, and adapt to evolving threats.
- Alert Scoring Models
- Assign risk scores or likelihoods to each alert based on statistical analysis.
- Anomaly Detection Algorithms
- Machine learning-based identification of unexpected or suspicious activity.
- Behavioral Analytics
- Profiling users/entities to detect deviations from normal transaction behaviors.
- Custom Model Integration
- Ability to import or develop custom analytics or ML models.
- Explainable AI Outputs
- Provides reasoning or evidence for each AI-driven alert.
- False Positive Reduction Technology
- AI mechanisms to significantly lower the number of irrelevant alerts.
- Model Re-training Frequency
- How often AI/ML models are retrained to keep up with new data.
- Natural Language Processing
- Analysis of unstructured data (emails, notes) for surveillance signals.
- Scenario Simulation
- Test and validate AI models or surveillance rules against simulated scenarios.
- Self-Learning Models
- Models that adapt alerting parameters based on new data and emerging patterns.
Audit & Regulatory Compliance
Controls and records designed to guarantee adherence to regulatory standards and to facilitate auditing.
- Accessibility to Regulators
- Secure, controlled regulator access to requested surveillance data.
- Audit Report Generation
- One-click generation of compliance/audit output.
- Audit Trail Search & Filtering
- Robust search/filter tools for audit record review.
- Change Management Tracking
- Logs and summarizes rule, threshold, and configuration changes.
- Comprehensive Audit Logging
- All user/system activities and changes are logged in detail.
- Data Privacy Compliance Controls
- Privacy features for GDPR, CCPA, or relevant data protection regimes.
- Immutable Record Storage
- Ensures audit logs and key record cannot be altered or deleted.
- Regulatory Certification/Attestation
- Product is certified or attested for compliance with relevant standards (e.g., SOC, ISO, GDPR).
- Retention Policy Enforcement
- Automation to manage data retention in line with regulatory requirements.
- Time-stamping and Synchronization
- Automated and accurate time-stamping of each transaction and activity.
Core Transaction Monitoring
Features directly related to the capture, tracking, and surveillance of transactions for compliance, risk identification, and regulatory reporting.
- Ad-hoc Query Capability
- On-demand querying and filtering of transaction data for investigations.
- Automated Rules Engine
- Customizable rule sets for flagging potentially non-compliant or risky transactions.
- Cross-channel Surveillance
- Ability to monitor transactions across multiple platforms and channels (trading, banking, payments).
- Data Enrichment
- Ability to augment transaction records with additional data sources for enhanced detection.
- Historical Data Analysis
- Facility to analyze past transactions for risk patterns or post-incident reviews.
- Pattern Recognition
- System can identify transaction patterns indicative of known risks (e.g., layering in money laundering).
- Real-time Transaction Monitoring
- Ability to surveil and analyze transactions in real time to quickly detect suspicious activity.
- Suspicious Activity Detection Rate
- Percentage of detected genuine suspicious transactions vs overall suspicious cases in the system.
- Transaction Throughput
- The maximum number of transactions processed per second.
- Volume Capacity
- The largest number of records manageable in system storage without degradation.
Data Integration & Quality
Capabilities relating to importing, exporting, and maintaining the quality and integrity of data for surveillance.
- API Availability
- Availability of APIs for system integration and data exchange.
- Data Format Compatibility
- Supported number of standard and custom data formats.
- Data Lineage Tracking
- Ability to trace the origin and history of each data element.
- Data Retention Period
- Maximum duration data can be securely stored and archived.
- Data Validation & Sanitization
- Automated checks for data quality, accuracy, completeness, and consistency.
- Duplicate Transaction Detection
- Automatic identification of duplicate transaction records.
- ETL Performance
- Speed of extracting, transforming, and loading data.
- Manual Data Entry Support
- Allows for secure manual input and corrections of data where needed.
- Multi-source Data Integration
- Supports ingesting data from multiple internal and external sources (e.g., trade systems, banks, brokers).
- Real-time Data Feed Support
- Integration with streaming data feeds for live monitoring.
Reporting & Analytics
Capabilities for regulatory reporting, internal management reports, analytics, and visualization of surveillance results.
- Ad Hoc Analytics Module
- Tools for creating advanced, one-off analytic queries and visualizations.
- Audit Certified Reports
- Reports can be generated with system-assured audit certification.
- Custom Report Builder
- Users can design and generate tailored analytic and compliance reports.
- Dashboards & Data Visualization
- Interactive dashboards and visual summaries of key metrics and trends.
- Drill-down Analysis
- Ability to drill from top-line summaries to detailed transaction or alert records.
- KPI Tracking
- Track key performance indicators (alerts handled, case closure rate, etc.).
- Peer Group Benchmarking
- Compare your organization's risk/compliance statistics to industry benchmarks.
- Report Export Formats
- Available formats for exporting reports (e.g., PDF, Excel, CSV).
- Scheduled Reporting
- Reports can be automatically scheduled and distributed.
- Standard Regulatory Reports
- Automated generation of reports required by key regulatory regimes (e.g., FINRA, FCA, SEC).
Security & Infrastructure
Underlying technical and operational capabilities for ensuring system security, availability, and resilience.
- Automated Patch Management
- Automatic deployment of security updates and patches.
- Cloud or On-premise Deployment Options
- Ability to deploy the solution in the cloud, on-premises, or hybrid models.
- Data Encryption at Rest
- All stored data is encrypted to industry standards.
- Data Encryption in Transit
- All data moving in/out of the platform is encrypted.
- Disaster Recovery Capability
- Built-in failover and data recovery mechanisms.
- High Availability Uptime
- Guaranteed minimum system uptime.
- Penetration Testing Frequency
- Schedule for regular security penetration/vulnerability tests.
- Physical Data Center Security
- Data centers conform with industry physical security standards.
- Scalability Metrics
- The scale to which system performance can be expanded.
- Security Incident Response
- Documented and tested incident response processes.
Support, Usability & Training
Tools, documentation, and services designed to optimize user effectiveness, minimize risk of errors, and provide support.
- Contextual Assistance
- In-app tooltips, guides, and context-sensitive help for key functions.
- Customer Support Availability
- Hours per day that product support is available (e.g., 24/7).
- Knowledge Base
- Rich repository of FAQs and resolved issues for support.
- Multilingual Support
- Availability of user interface and documentation in multiple languages.
- Online Help & Documentation
- Comprehensive, accessible, and searchable system user guides.
- Release Notes / Update Notifications
- In-product or emailed communications for new releases and critical patches.
- System Customization Level
- Extent to which users can tailor features or workflows to their specific needs.
- Ticketing System
- Integrated issue and feature request tracking.
- Training Programs
- Availability of product training for staff and compliance officers.
- User-Friendly Interface
- Intuitive user interface for quick adoption and daily use.
Trade Surveillance
Functionality specific to monitoring trading activities and identifying market abuse, insider trading, and conflicts of interest.
- Alert Investigation Workflow
- Structured processes and tools to review and escalate detected trade alerts.
- Conflict of Interest Detection
- Automatic detection of potential conflicts based on employee accounts and trade history.
- Coverage of Instrument Types
- Number of supported asset types for surveillance (equities, derivatives, FX, fixed income, etc.).
- Exchange & Venue Coverage
- Ability to monitor trades across global exchanges and trading venues.
- Fairness Monitoring
- Surveillance for best execution, front running, and trade allocations.
- False Positive Rate
- Average proportion of trade alerts that are mistakenly flagged.
- Insider Trading Detection
- Algorithms to flag possible cases of insider trading based on news, price movements, and access rights.
- Market Manipulation Alerts
- Detection of market manipulation patterns such as spoofing, layering, and wash trading.
- Supervisory Dashboard
- Centralized view for compliance officers to monitor and prioritize potential trade violations.
- Trade Reconstruction Tools
- Ability to reconstruct order and trade histories for audit and investigation.
User Management & Access Controls
Tools for managing users, roles, permissions, and access security to sensitive data and features.
- Concurrent User Support
- Maximum number of users able to use the system simultaneously.
- Deprovisioning Automation
- Automated removal of access rights upon employee departure or role change.
- IP Whitelisting
- Restricting access only to users from approved network locations.
- Multi-factor Authentication
- Requirement for two or more forms of identity verification.
- Permission Templates
- Ability to create, save, and apply reusable permission settings across user groups.
- Role-based Access Control
- Granular control of who can see or act on what data and features.
- Segregation of Duty Support
- Helps implement separation of critical tasks to different users for internal controls.
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Support for central authentication and SSO standards.
- Temporary Access Management
- Time-limited or project-based access assignments.
- User Audit Logs
- Tracking of each user’s actions for security and compliance audits.