SteelEye and LeapXpert have partnered to help financial firms combat the risk associated with the use of unauthorized communications channels.  

Last year, $2 billion in eComms fines were handed out to Wall Street firms for failures in preventing employees from communicating on channels that were not being monitored for compliance.

Capturing and overseeing communications is a critical way of detecting market abuse like insider trading, unlawful information sharing, or other forms of manipulation. These are illegal activities that financial services firms are required to monitor for in accordance with FCA, ESMA, SEC, FINRA, and CFTC rules.

Previously, data capture and surveillance solutions for messaging applications like WhatsApp did not exist, and firms opted to ban their use. However, as evidenced by the ongoing communications crackdown, clients and employees often speak via these channels regardless of the bans imposed.

Now, LeapXpert and SteelEye have partnered to address the industry-wide eComms challenge and enable firms to fully capture and monitor data from the widest-range of channels.

The native integration between the two platforms means that eComms data captured by LeapXpert from platforms – including WhatsApp, SMS, Voice, iMessage, WeChat, Telegram, Signal, and LINE – flows automatically into SteelEye for compliance record keeping and surveillance. SteelEye is the only truly integrated surveillance solution that can natively bring together communications, trades, and orders, as well as news, and market data on a single platform.

A new LeapXpert integration with Microsoft Teams allows financial institutions to message clients through WhatsApp, SMS, and WeChat from within the native Microsoft Teams interface.

Commenting on the partnership, SteelEye’s CEO, Matt Smith, said:
“There is mounting pressure on financial firms to improve how they capture, archive, and monitor regulated communications across their organizations. Together with LeapXpert, we provide a sophisticated, scalable, and efficient solution – so that firms can empower their employees to communicate across a wide range of channels. LeapXpert’s innovative solution, which is deployed in some of the world’s biggest banks, takes the pain out of capturing communications while SteelEye’s Integrated Surveillance platform makes it easier for firms to identify compliance threats, investigate alerts, and report to the regulator.”

“We’re excited to partner with SteelEye, one of the leaders in surveillance technology,” added Avi Pardo, Co-Founder & CRO of LeapXpert. “SteelEye’s distinguished platform offers a futureproofed and scalable solution for financial firms looking to strengthen their communications but also trade surveillance programs. This integration ties into our strategy of partnering with complementary solutions, enabling us to provide an end-to-end solution and rapidly expand our business.”

Also commenting on the integration, Brian Lynch, President of SteelEye Americas said:
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is coming down hard on firms who fail to monitor for and capture communications on messaging channels. The partnership between LeapXpert and SteelEye can help firms avoid heavy fines and negative headlines.”