In January 2025, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued its first fine for transaction reporting failures under MiFIR (Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation). The case involved Infinox Capital Limited, which failed to submit a significant number of transaction reports between October 2022 and March 2023. This major compliance breach highlights the critical need for accurate and automated regulatory reporting.
What Went Wrong?
Infinox’s reporting failure was linked to multiple CFD trades executed via a corporate brokerage account. While the firm later identified the issue during a third-party review, it failed to proactively disclose the breach to the FCA. Instead, the regulator uncovered the discrepancy itself, exposing fundamental weaknesses in Infinox’s transaction reporting systems and controls.
This case sends a clear message: the FCA expects accurate, complete, and timely transaction reports. Firms that fall short risk enforcement action, reputational damage, and substantial financial penalties.
“As a data-led regulator, it is vital that firms submit accurate and timely transaction reports and promptly bring any failures to our attention. Infinox failed to do this, which meant market abuse could have flown under the radar and risked the integrity of the market.”
– Steve Smart, FCA Joint Executive Director of Enforcement & Market Oversight
The Critical Role of Reference Data in Compliance
At the heart of MiFIR, EMIR Refit, SFTR, and other global reporting regimes lies the need for accurate reference data. Firms must submit up to 65 regulatory fields under UK MiFIR, 204 under EMIR Refit, and 155 under SFTR, covering essential details such as:
✅ Financial Instruments (ISINs)
✅ Counterparty Identifiers (LEIs)
✅ Trade Execution Data
✅ Transaction Classification
Regulatory reporting requires validated, enriched, and standardised reference data to ensure compliance. Without it, reports risk rejection, leading to compliance breaches, increased regulatory scrutiny, and costly remediation efforts.
Why Manual Processes Are No Longer Viable
The complexity of multi-jurisdictional regulatory reporting means that relying on manual data entry and fragmented workflows is a high-risk approach. Errors in reference data—such as incorrect counterparty classification under EMIR or misclassified instruments under MiFIR—can cause transaction reports to fail automated validation checks.
Additionally, firms operating across Europe, Asia, and the US must comply with varying regulatory frameworks, including:
- MiFIR (UK & EU)
- EMIR Refit (UK & EU)
- SFTR (UK & EU)
- CFTC (US)
- ASIC (Australia)
- JFSA (Japan)
Each regulator enforces different reporting standards, making data accuracy and standardisation crucial for compliance success.
How Reg-X Ensures Accurate, Automated Regulatory Reporting
At Reg-X, we help firms overcome the complexities of regulatory reporting with cutting-edge RegTech solutions that eliminate manual errors and streamline compliance.
✔ Automated Data Validation & Enrichment – Ensuring reference data meets regulatory standards before submission.
✔ Seamless API & Feed Integration – Delivering real-time reference data for MiFIR, EMIR, SFTR, and other global regulations.
✔ ISO 20022 XML Standard Compliance – Meeting the latest structured reporting requirements to avoid rejections.
✔ Proactive Data Monitoring – Never miss a trade with real-time reference data tracking.
A New Era of Regulatory Oversight
The FCA’s enforcement action against Infinox marks the end of the ‘honeymoon period’ for MiFIR compliance. Regulators worldwide are tightening their oversight, increasing scrutiny on firms that fail to meet their reporting obligations.
To avoid regulatory penalties, firms must invest in high-quality, automated reference data solutions that support real-time compliance monitoring and reporting workflows.
🚀 Ready to automate your regulatory reporting? Contact Reg-X today to learn how our solutions can future-proof your compliance strategy.
