Galina Dimitrova, Director of Investment and Capital Markets at the Investment Association (IA), has responded to the FCA’s further reforms to improve markets and bolster competitiveness.
“The IA welcomes the publication of the FCA’s long awaited consultation paper on developing a Consolidated Tape (CT) framework in the UK.
“An appropriately constructed and fairly licensed CT will be an important cornerstone in reforming and tailoring UK capital markets. A CT for bonds followed by a CT for equities and ETFs will help ensure a golden source of market data on prices and volumes traded for these instruments and will enable all market participants, including retail investors, to access robust data in a timely fashion enabling IA members to best serve the needs of their clients.
“Additionally, we very much support the FCA’s intentions to run a competitive tender process to appoint a CT provider for bonds as this will likely aid competition and drive innovation. However, we caution that any fee structure associated with accessing the CT must be palatable and fair for all market stakeholders.
“We look forward to the speedy implementation of this vital initiative and hope to see detailed information regarding the framework for a CT for equities and ETFs in due course.”
