The Expert Stakeholder Group set up under the Regulation governing rules about markets in financial instruments (DEG)published reports on the main parameters of EU consolidated tapes. Consolidated tapes are centralised data feeds that bring together the prices and volumes of financial instruments, such as shares and bonds, from hundreds of trading venues across all Member States into a single stream of information, equally accessible for everybody.

The reports contain a set of recommendations focused on key pre-conditions for the tapes to emerge, such as the quality of data to be transmitted to and disseminated by consolidated tape providers, as well as the timeline for disclosing the trading information around bonds and derivatives.

The recommendations will feed into the ongoing work by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Commission to develop the technical measures needed for the creation of the tapes.

Addressing the fragmented EU trading landscape will enhance the competitiveness, integration and efficiency of EU financial markets and drive forward the Savings and Investment Union. By providing near real-time information on pricing conditions across EU venues, consolidated tapes empower users to make better informed decisions. They also improve competition by driving trading to trading venues with better prices and better liquidity, ultimately enhancing visibility for companies seeking funding.

Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness,said: “The consolidated tape can be a significant step towards advancing the Savings and Investments Union, making markets more attractive and easier to navigate for EU and international investors, provided we put in place all the technical measures necessary to remove the remaining barriers. I would like to thank the members of the expert group for providing clear recommendations to make this happen. We will now carefully consider their proposals together with ESMA”.

Source: European Commission