The Financial Conduct Authority has published Consultation Paper CP25/31 setting out its proposed framework to establish a UK equity consolidated tape, operated by an authorised Consolidated Tape Provider that would consolidate and distribute equity market data across trading venues and over-the-counter trading. The proposals would apply to equity trading venues, Approved Publication Arrangements for OTC equity trade reports, and firms interested in becoming the equity Consolidated Tape Provider. The FCA proposes a tape covering shares, exchange-traded funds, depositary receipts, certificates and similar instruments, and favours a model that includes post-trade data plus the attributed pre-trade best bid and offer from lit UK venues, delivered via a single provider appointed through a procurement process for an initial five-year contract. Trading venues and Approved Publication Arrangements would be required to provide data to the provider free of charge, with specified latency, operational resilience and data quality expectations, and the tape would also publish regulatory status data on instruments and trading systems and offer historical databases. The FCA does not propose mandatory consumption of the tape, a requirement to make tape data available for free after 15 minutes, or mandatory revenue-sharing between the provider and data contributors. Responses are requested by 13 February 2026, and the FCA is also inviting expressions of interest to be the equity Consolidated Tape Provider. Following feedback, it aims to publish a policy statement in the first half of 2026, begin procurement after the policy statement and Handbook changes, and have the equity consolidated tape operational in 2027.
Financial Conduct Authority 2025-11-19
Financial Conduct Authority consults on a UK equity consolidated tape with an attributed best bid and offer and a single-provider model
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released Consultation Paper CP25/31 outlining a proposed framework for a UK equity consolidated tape, operated by an authorised provider consolidating and distributing equity market data. It covers shares, exchange-traded funds, and similar instruments, focusing on post-trade data and pre-trade best bid and offer from lit UK venues. The FCA does not propose mandatory tape consumption or free data availability after 15 minutes, aiming for the tape to be operational in 2027.