How do FCA brokers use AI for trade and comms surveillance?
FCA-regulated brokers use AI in surveillance across two axes: an enterprise system-of-record (Nasdaq SMARTS, Behavox, Smarsh, Global Relay) for regulated capture and archiving, plus a bespoke LLM triage layer on top that reduces reviewer load by 60–80% and adds Consumer Duty vulnerable-customer overlays. The bespoke layer is where firm-specific tuning, false-positive reduction and evidence assembly live.
FCA-regulated brokers use AI in surveillance across two axes: an enterprise system-of-record (Nasdaq SMARTS, Behavox, Smarsh, Global Relay) for regulated capture and archiving, plus a bespoke LLM triage layer on top that reduces reviewer load by 60–80% and adds Consumer Duty vulnerable-customer overlays. The bespoke layer is where firm-specific tuning, false-positive reduction and evidence assembly live.
The vendor plus triage pattern
Ripping out an incumbent enterprise surveillance vendor is rarely worth it. Wrapping one with a firm-specific LLM triage layer almost always is. Reviewer load drops materially; false positives are dismissed with reasoning regulators accept; genuine risks are escalated with pre-assembled evidence.
Related questions
Is LLM triage defensible to the FCA?
Yes, when the triage layer produces reasoning for every flag and every dismiss, versioned and archived.
Can we replace Nasdaq SMARTS?
Rarely worth it. Wrap it.
How much reviewer load reduction?
60–80% in production.
Consumer Duty overlay?
Yes — vulnerable-customer signalling encoded into the triage layer.
Price?
The Trade Surveillance & Comms productised build is £110k / 8 weeks.
Surveillance is the axis where AI most obviously earns its regulator posture. The pattern is settled; the ROI is measurable.
The £15k AI Diagnostic sizes the specific surveillance uplift for your firm.