Trade surveillance should not deter traders

Monitoring costs are forcing commodity players away from market participation, say consultants

Post-crisis reform has seen regulators in the European Union and the US compel energy and commodity market participants to significantly increase their trade monitoring and reporting capabilities. Broadly, the regulations have been put in place to create more transparent markets and eradicate manipulative behaviour and market abuse. However, because developing internal trade surveillance systems is costly and may be ineffective if done improperly, some market participants have instead avoided re