Direct phrase recognition unlocks hidden 60 percent of trading communications

Fonetic, the recognised leader in voice and text management solutions announced the addition of Multi-Trade Search and Reconstruction capabilities into its compliance portfolio.  The ability to search across multiple trade datasets and integrate with fully searchable multi-channel proprietary communications is a response to demands from regulators petitioning banks to reconstruct multiple trades across a wide range of trading scenarios and criteria.  Banks using Fonetic’s linguistic analysis can now view and reconstruct all information about trades and communications in one platform.

The sheer volume of electronic data produced and stored can create a real headache for many compliance teams due to the countless complex and disparate processes involved. Currently an estimated 60 percent of data in existing speech-to-text solutions is lost, leaving potentially fraudulent conversations on trading floors undetected and banks exposed to future opprobrium and fines. By deploying Fonetic’s linguistics-based solution with direct phrase recognition, banks are able to analyse 100 percent of the data, 100 percent of the time, catching otherwise seemingly innocuous conversations and flagging them as potentially illegal.

Requests from regulators for multi-trade reconstruction can very immensely depending on the scope and nature of their investigation; for example, they could ask for all trades relating to a named counterparty or all trades made by a certain trader in a defined period.

“Consolidating searches across multiple trades is a real concern for banks seeking to be fully Dodd Frank compliant,” said Juan Manuel Soto, CEO and Founder of Fonetic. “Real petitions from regulators are not going to be for the reconstruction of a just single trade, but multiple trades in one shot.  Banks have to be able to respond to quickly and with full disclosure when the regulator knocks on their door, and this new capability is an important addition to their compliance armoury.”

The new Multi-Trade Search and Reconstruction functionality introduces alternative ways of customising trade searches by filtering using trade information such as ‘deal date’, ‘expiration date’, and ‘counterparty’, amongst others.  Each trade number is a link that automatically redirects the end user to the multi-channel communications involved in the construction of the trade.

The new functionality integrates seamlessly with Fonetic’s existing linguistics-based analytics suite and includes the ability to export a comprehensive reconstruction of a trade’s history and communications.

“The only thing worse than misinterpreting data is not even knowing you have it in the first place,” said Jose Luis MaupoeyFonetic’s new head of compliance products. “By making Fonetic’s solution fully customisable across multiple trades, banks are able to simplify and refine their search solutions to a superior degree of granularity, discovering in greater detail the scale of potentially fraudulent conversations in a matter of seconds.  This new capability is a significant addition to the armoury of banks’ compliance and legal teams who are grappling with overseeing an ever more complex web of trades.”

“This month’s Forex scandal is evidence alone that traders are still damaging the reputation of banks,” said Soto. “If consumers are ever going to trust banks again, we need to act to stop the illegal and immoral activities of a minority which are tarnishing the reputation of an industry.  Paying billions in fines isn’t a solution to the problem, it’s a symptom of it.  Only by putting in place comprehensive oversight can banks rebuild trust in their brand and industry.”

Fonetic is a recognised leader in voice and text management solutions.  Its award-winning Trading Record Keeping Compliance Solution was developed six years ago for Banco Bilbao VizcayaArgentaria (BBVA) to proactively prevent market abuse and adhere to stringent legislation. This solution, also implemented globally in Santander, enables compliance officers to find specific, relevant communications about any given trade. By monitoring up to 84 different languages and dialects, Fonetic can reconstruct all interactions associated with a trade in moments.