Buyer’s Guide: Sellside Surveillance Solutions 2026

Trade and communications surveillance has become a strategic priority for investment banks in 2026, driven by persistent regulatory enforcement and the operational cost of compliance failures. Global fines exceeded USD 4 billion last year, with the largest 2025 penalty, USD 985 million, imposed on UBS Group AG by the French state. The UK’s FCA recorded 27 penalties in 2024, its highest count in a decade. Regulators are deploying AI-driven supervisory technology, pressuring banks to detect misconduct before enforcement action follows.

False positives remain the industry’s principal operational burden: One report found 73% of respondents cited them as a top challenge in 2025, up from 64% in 2024. Advances in cloud computing, AI, machine learning and natural language processing are enabling platforms that analyse structured and unstructured data more accurately, reducing false positives and improving contextual understanding.

GreySpark identifies seven key purchasing criteria that differentiate surveillance vendors in 2026 (functionality, technology, flexibility, credibility, service and support, trade surveillance, and communications surveillance) and the report benchmarks five vendors against them.