When the entire SEC is ordered to work from home, it’s time to talk about market surveillance infrastructure and remote access.

Global Impact Event Response

During these early weeks in March of 2020, uncertainty levels are escalating surrounding the scope and severity of the COVID-19 virus. In the financial world, most scheduled conferences have been cancelled, and at the time of this writing most major market participant firms have either instituted split-shift staffing plans or strongly discouraged employees from reporting to offices, while confirmations of contagious employees have resulted in outright office closure. The rational hope, of course, is that these cautionary measures will prove effective in both mitigating risk to employees’ health and slowing the spread of a worrisome public health threat.

Meanwhile, the “show” must go on. Financial market participants are keenly aware of the importance of maintaining firm operations, not only to maintain profitability and fulfill client expectations, but also (and especially in the case of systemically important financial institutions) to promote global financial market stability during a time of heightened volatility. In addition to trading and risk management, compliance operations are a critical part of this effort—particularly market oversight and trade surveillance.