MAR compliance guide: Market Abuse Regulation

Firms trading on EU venues or dealing in EU-linked instruments are under pressure to detect and report potential market abuse under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). 

Whether you operate across multiple jurisdictions or manage a single trading desk, meeting MAR expectations requires systems, processes, and evidence that can stand up to investigation.

In this article, we'll explain what MAR compliance means, what regulators require from companies, common challenges, and how to build a compliance framework.

Why MAR compliance is a priority in 2025

The EU’s Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) has been in effect since 2016, but its enforcement momentum continues to grow. 

National Competent Authorities (NCAs) are increasingly active, issuing substantial fines and demanding more from firms in terms of proactive surveillance and internal governance.

For firms trading in EU markets, or impacting them from outside, MAR compliance isn’t optional. Regulators expect you to detect, investigate, and report potential abuse before they find it themselves.

What is MAR?

The Market Abuse Regulation is a set of rules developed by the European Union to prevent, detect, and report criminal activities in the financial markets, such as insider trading, unlawful disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation.

These rules aim to enhance market transparency, protect investors, and stay current with the financial market developments in Europe.

Which companies are affected by MAR?

Regardless of the industry, all actors who are professionally arranging or executing transactions are affected by MAR.

To fulfil their MAR obligations, these actors must establish and maintain effective measures, systems, and procedures to detect and report suspicious orders and transactions.

If an actor suspects that an order or transaction may constitute insider trading or market manipulation, they must notify the country's competent authority.

To be more concise, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) explains that the obligation to detect and identify criminal activities under MAR also applies to "the buy side firms, such as investment management firms". 

The practical challenges of MAR

While MAR sets a single regulatory standard across the EU, national interpretation and enforcement vary. This creates compliance complexity, particularly for firms trading across multiple member states. Common challenges include:

• Multi-venue monitoring – Capturing all relevant orders and transactions across venues and over-the-counter (OTC).
• Threshold variations –  National competent authorities (NCAs) may apply different alerting and reporting thresholds.
• Cross-border coordination – A single case may involve multiple NCAs with different investigative priorities.
• Evidence standards – Some NCAs require more detailed contextual evidence with suspicious orders and transactions (STORs) than others.

MAR key obligations and best practices

Companies must set adequate arrangements, systems, and procedures through continuous market surveillance to comply with the rules and control the prevalence of market abuse. 

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that set out the requirements for market surveillance.

To summarise the report, here are the three key requirements for fund management companies to comply with the rules:

• Use automated systems in your market surveillance processes to analyse large volumes of data and detect suspicious activity quickly and efficiently.
• Manual monitoring is also needed, meaning that you should have procedures for the manual handling of transactions and order analysis.
• Design surveillance systems and procedures based on factors such as the number of orders and trades handled, the financial instruments and markets covered, order size and trading frequencies, and the type and size of your business.

Other obligations include:

• Implement effective arrangements, systems, and procedures to detect and report suspicious orders and transactions (STORs).
• Submit to the relevant NCA without delay once suspicion is confirmed.
• Maintain up-to-date lists of all persons with access to inside information.
• Manage public disclosure of inside information, with delay procedures where applicable.
• Ensure employees understand MAR obligations and reporting procedures.

Looking ahead: MAR enforcement trends

Expect more coordinated EU-wide investigations, increased scrutiny on algorithmic trading under MAR, and potential expansion of scope to cover emerging asset classes like tokenised securities. Firms that invest now in scalable, explainable surveillance will be best placed to adapt.

In conclusion 

Besides checking boxes, MAR compliance is about demonstrating that your firm actively protects market integrity. With the right systems, processes, and expertise, compliance can become a competitive advantage.

As Per Friberg, Senior Financial Crime Surveillance Officer at Trapets, notes:

"By complying with the Market Abuse Regulation, companies can protect investors and enhance market transparency while keeping up to date with the development of financial markets in the European sector."

Talk to a Trapets expert to see how our technology can help you achieve MAR compliance.