European Fund and Asset Management Association and Association for Financial Markets in Europe call for EU equity market reforms to back competition and accelerate the consolidated tape

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) published a joint statement urging EU policymakers to scale up EU equity markets by promoting competition and innovation and preserving investor choice, rather than shifting trading volumes back towards incumbent exchanges by restricting alternative trading mechanisms. The paper argues that competition introduced under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) has improved execution outcomes and lowered trading costs, and warns that curtailing bilateral trading mechanisms could reverse these gains. It supports the European Commission’s Market Integration and Supervision Package reforms to the consolidated tape and calls for the changes to be reflected sooner than 2031, alongside greater depth to deliver a single, clearer view of EU-wide liquidity. Additional priorities include effective enforcement of Reasonable Commercial Basis rules to curb market data costs, post-trade integration including interoperability between significant central counterparties and expansion of TARGET2-Securities, and regulatory simplification focused on remaining structural inefficiencies in market data, clearing and settlement. EFAMA and AFME urged rapid legislative progress on the package and said they will continue engaging with European institutions and market participants as discussions on the Market Integration Package continue.