MAS builds in-house tool to spot rogue trading early, with 98% accuracy

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been using an augmented intelligence tool, said to be a global first in the securities enforcement world, to better decide on how it should prioritise and pursue cases of market manipulation.

Developed in-house last year, the tool is called Project Apollo and models rogue trading behavior using traits identified by human experts. According to MAS's enforcement report, published for the first time on Wednesday, Project Apollo also offers analysis and prediction during early stages of investigations. All in, Project Apollo helps enforcement officers in the triaging of cases for investigation, MAS said.

MAS said that the new system offers an accuracy rate of 98 per cent when tested using past cases where investigations had been completed and market manipulation was found to have occurred. This means Apollo was able to correctly assess whether market manipulation had occurred 98 per cent of the time, said an MAS spokesman.