AFB Practice Roundtable: Building a Robust STORS Framework

Compliance with the UK Market Abuse Regulation requires more than policies and procedures; sound judgement, clear governance, and consistent execution are also needed. This session, in partnership with Deloitte, is designed to help members strengthen their approach to Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports (STORs), a critical component in countering market abuse. 

Members will explore the FCA’s current expectations, practical governance structures, and the operational nuances that underpin a strong STORs framework.

Why attend?

The roundtable will consider/review the following topics:

• the FCA’s current focus and expectations around STORs
• what effective decision-making committees look like and why ‘near misses’ matter
• reporting thresholds: how to define and apply the ‘reasonable suspicion’ standard consistently
• how record-keeping support defensible and consistent decisions
• how to help client-facing teams detect and report market abuse
• the obligations of firms under SYSC 6.1.1R and how formal frameworks support risk management

AFB will circulate an agenda and a series of discussion points and questions in advance to those registered to attend.

Note that capacity for the roundtable will be limited to 30 members, one person per member bank to ensure as many firms as possible can benefit from the discussions.  Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Who should attend?

This in-person roundtable is aimed at individuals working in Compliance, Legal and Risk as well as Market Surveillance Leads, Front Office Managers and Governance and Oversight Committee Members.

Facilitators

Neil Cowie, Director Risk Advisory
Neil has 25 years’ experience in advising firms and implementing highly effective regulatory compliance solutions. His experience covers a wide spectrum of topics and projects, including conflicts of interest, market abuse, regulatory frameworks/operating models, and general compliance digitisation. Neil currently leads the Deloitte Capital Markets Non-Financial Risk Advisory practice

Anna Gooch, Assistant Director Risk Advisory

Anna has 25 years+ of experience in the financial sector, spanning Corporate Finance and front office roles at major investment banks and evolving into specialisation in surveillance and compliance. Prior to joining Deloitte in July, she spent 13 years leading the Market Abuse Investigations team at the Financial Conduct Authority.

Please note you will receive a confirmation of your booking via email within 24 hours. Should you not receive a confirmation, please contact AFB to double check if your booking was successful.

Logistics

Fee:        Included in AFB membership

Location: 1 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3HQ

Date:        Wednesday 10 December 2025

Time:        08:30 – 10:30 (Arrivals and networking 08:30 – 09:00)

If you would like to submit a question before or have any specific questions or areas that you would like the session to address, please send them to the AFB Secretariat as soon as practicable. You will receive final event details a week before the event.