The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) welcomes the recent proposal by European exchanges to build a consolidated tape. This affirms the buy-side’s long standing view that a European consolidated tape is key to completing the objectives of the Capital Markets Union and ensuring that European capital markets remain globally competitive.

We have identified important use-cases for institutional and retail investors alike, not least in the ability to receive best execution on trades. We also believe in the potential of the equities/ETF consolidated tape to attract more capital flows into mid-cap and small-cap stocks, as well as smaller markets generally.

As with any proposal, however, the devil will be in the detail.

Tanguy van de Werve, Director General of EFAMA, said: “It is our sincere hope that the review of MiFID/R will yield a viable framework for the emergence of a consolidated tape. The recent announcement by 14 exchange groups is welcome in this regard. Nevertheless, it is important that the resulting equities tape displays both pre and post-trade equities/ETF data in real-time. From a cost perspective, the equities/ETF consolidated tape should be provided on a reasonable commercial basis, as already foreseen in MiFID/R. This will ensure wide take-up of the tape in the user community. Finally, the consolidated tape should meet the needs of market participants, and in no way be used to render European exchanges’ own proprietary feeds more attractive.”

Souce: EFAMA