German financial watchdog: AI is helping to catch market abuse

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin (Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) is pictured outside of an office building of the BaFin in Bonn, Germany, April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's financial regulator BaFin is using artificial intelligence to help it spot market abuse and suspicious patterns in trading, increasing the chances of catching offenders, a top official warned on Monday.

BaFin President Mark Branson said the supervisor had started using artificial intelligence last year in its alert and market analysis system.