Daniel Segal is a Trade Surveillance Analyst in Finalto’s Risk Department—a newly created role designed to strengthen market integrity, mitigate potential risks, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards. Before stepping into Risk, Daniel built his expertise in Finalto’s Compliance team.
We sat down with Daniel to discuss the impact of strong leadership, the value of knowledge-sharing, and why tackling new challenges is often the best way to gain deeper insight into the industry.
Tell us about yourself
I studied languages at university, studying French and Chinese, which included studying in Beijing. After graduating, I had originally wanted to return to China until Covid intervened. I then entered the financial services sector in London, working in due diligence at KPMG and Grant Thornton.
When I joined Finalto, I originally started in the Onboarding department, an experience I’m grateful for that provided me with a foundation I would draw on in future roles.
Onboarding gave me transferable operational insight, from an in-depth understanding of how the CRM works to a front-to-back understanding of the client relationship.
Similarly, when I transferred to Compliance, I gained a front-to-back understanding of how a client acts as a counterparty to Finalto.
What impact do leaders have on shaping the culture within the company?
In each role, I’ve been fortunate to work under knowledgeable, industry-leading colleagues, which is something that is evident to anyone who joins the company with their knowledge and depth of understanding being highly influential.
In turn, people are always keen to level up. I feel that myself. After an interdepartmental meeting, I always feel like I’ve learned something new; but also, that I’ve gained practical knowledge that produces effective results – something that I hope one day I can pass on to others.
I’m not suggesting the process is always easy. Sometimes it takes the form of what can feel like tough love through high expectations; but looking back at this high standard of accountability and responsibility, I’ll always be grateful for the incentive to level up.
Who were your strongest influences?
Klelia, our Head of Compliance at Finalto, was an important influence. A great boss can instil belief into their colleagues, allowing people to make decisions and making them feel those decisions matter.
Klelia believed in me and trusted my knowledge, which had an empowering impact. She allowed me to work independently but also made me realise there’s a standard of work that is required to consistently be produced.
It’s a great way to deepen your abilities. I’m a great believer in accountability and combined with responsibility for our own work successfully allows staff at Finalto to expand on their knowledge efficiently while also gaining valuable experience about the industry and how to navigate the obstacles that may present themselves in our line of work.
It’s good to be challenged. Every day presents new challenges and exposure to that is naturally healthy.
Working in Compliance gave me a broad and detailed exposure to operational systems, processes and regulation. From getting an integrated understanding of a client’s role as a counterparty to the work I’ve done overseeing external communications for marketing compliance to communicating with the FCA. All these were requisite for giving me a foundation for my current role and helped to highlight the importance of monitoring trading activity and ensuring a fair and equal market.
The FCA have continued to remind firms in recent months of the emphasis on combatting market abuse through being predictable, proportionate, and purposeful. The threat of Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) is higher than ever before, therefore it is crucial that the firm is alert to potential behaviours that may indicate attempts of market manipulation. Collaboration – both internally and externally with the regulator – is essential to continually ensure we collectively work in an environment of integrity within the market.
Tell us about your new role in Risk
It’s actually a new role at the company, Trade Surveillance Analyst, within the Risk department. I’m tasked with monitoring to help ensure Best Execution duties are met, and monitor for any signs of market abuse and survey for any signs of fraud and market manipulation.
Again, I have a lot of autonomy to establish my own workflow, and corresponding responsibility to develop effective processes that can be implemented within the company to help mitigate these potential risks.
For instance, we are implementing new best execution software. A large part of my current role is developing an understanding of the software, and developing a strategy to get the most out of our new technology.
I am also very fortunate to be able to work under the leadership of the Risk Team, Daniel Frostick, another industry leading individual, who has given me crucial exposure to the key focus areas of our proactive risk strategy; market risk, credit risk and operational risk. During such periods of strong market volatility and the everchanging landscape of the ecosystem that we operate in, it’s been an excellent opportunity to understand further the firm’s processes, policies and controls to ensure we are adequately prepared and can react when necessary.
That’s a lot of responsibility for one person?
At Finalto, there’s lot of sharing of ideas across departments in general. I’m discovering that Risk, in particular, is a central hub, where we engage closely across disciplines. Ensuring we provide best execution involves close coordination across Liquidity, Transactional Reporting, Compliance and other teams.
What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to start a career in this industry?
The secret is to make the most of each experience and use it as a springboard for your next opportunity, embrace transferring your skills to new challenges and make sure you are continually challenging yourself.
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