Context – For decades the US has had a consolidated tape which is a record of all trade data in one place helping to increase transparency in the market. Europe is now launching it’s own consolidated tape following an ESMA meeting in July this year.
What is it – An EU Consolidated Tape will bring pre-trade and post-trade data together in one place, making it easier for investors to see where securities are trading, at what price, and what activity is taking place across the market.
What does it cover – The new European Consolidated Tape brings together trading data from more than 130 venues across 29 European countries, giving investors a much clearer view of activity across the market.
Who runs it – The equity and ETF tape is operated by EuroCTP, a joint venture created specifically to provide a single source of European market data. Major financial data providers, including LSEG, are also integrating the feed into their own platforms and analytics tools.
Cost – One of the biggest changes is accessibility. The basic feed is free for retail investors and non-professional users, making European market data much easier to access and reducing the information gap between individual investors and large institutions.
When – EuroCTP has until the 30th September to get operationally ready for its launch.
The change will increase transparency and is speculated to prove that European markets are far more liquid than people realise encouraging greater global investment. This will likely have a positive effect on investor interest into Europe but we’ll have to see whether this has the dramatic change ESMA thinks it will have on the market. Some argue there are a lot more regulators can do to increase investor interest in the European markets outside of the consolidate tape such as increasing retail participation and lowering or removing taxes on stock trading. It will be interesting to just how big the impact will be in Q4.
One area to look out for will be the Market Data tech firms and exchanges that have been selling historical market data feeds for some time. These firms will likely be even more sought after because of the analysis and deep insights over the top of the data which will be vital for institutional firms. I anticipate more hiring in this space across sales, engineering and product over the next 12 months as a result of an increase in demand for the data insights as firms seek to improve their offerings. For the market data industry, the real question will not be who controls the tape, it will likely be who builds the most valuable products on top of it.
There are several consolidated tapes either live or going live in next 12 months across different traded products. See below expected go-live dates:
UK Bond Tape: Live since 22nd June 2026
EU Equity/ETF Tape: Expected around 30st Sept 2026
EU Bond Tape: Expected Q1 2027
EU Derivatives Tape: Expected June 2027
By Jim O’Donoghue
