Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have announced that NSE, which services the largest economy in Africa, will acquire Nasdaq’s SMARTS Market Surveillance platform to power their compliance program. The technology will provide NSE with the surveillance expertise needed to grow and expand the market and equip the exchange with the surveillance tools necessary to monitor for market manipulation, including spoofing and layering. NSE also uses Nasdaq’s X-Stream trading platform as its trading engine.

Commenting on the implementation, Tinuade Awe, General Counsel and Head of Regulation at the NSE said “this development affirms our continuous commitment to protecting investors by creating a fair and orderly market. As we introduce new asset classes to grow our market, the deployment of a robust, integrated and efficient solution to monitor the increasing complexity of trading activities is imperative. Regulatory and compliance issues continue to be a primary focus in our quest to become Africa’s foremost securities exchange and we are pleased to be leveraging Nasdaq’s global leadership in the development of capital market surveillance systems.”

“We are thrilled to partner with an innovative forward looking exchange such as NSE,” said Tony Sio, Head of SMARTS Market Surveillance, Nasdaq. “NSE has a tremendous growth potential and as the volumes and products expand the sophistication and impact of manipulative practices could also increase. By detecting activities such as spoofing and layering as soon as they occur, the exchange is signaling to the market how seriously it is in promoting a fair market.”

With over 20 years of experience, SMARTS is the industry benchmark for real-time and T+1 surveillance, supervision and compliance. SMARTS Market Surveillance is currently used by over 52 exchanges and regulators to power market integrity on a global stage.