The Financial Conduct Authority will begin releasing a daily digest of trading in UK shares from Friday, the regulator confirmed. Alongside the daily publication, the FCA will make available a year of historical trading data to assist investors in evaluating the volume of activity in domestic equities.
The daily bulletin is being positioned as a stopgap measure until a full consolidated tape for equities is implemented. A consolidated tape would consolidate trade data into a single stream for market participants.
The FCA plans to issue details on Friday about what will be included in the feed. According to the announcement, the scope is expected to encompass data from both before trades execute and after they have been completed. The potential inclusion of pre-trade information has been the subject of debate in the City of London in recent months.
Market participants broadly agree on the value of a post-trade tape, which provides a single source of executed trade information. The more contentious element has been the idea of a pre-trade tape, where the discussion centers on whether banks should be required to disclose pricing data that they currently hold.
The FCA's release of both a daily summary and a year of historical data aims to give investors more transparency on trading volumes while the authorities work toward the longer-term goal of a consolidated tape. The regulator will outline the precise content and format of the interim feed when it publishes the scope later this week.
Summary
The FCA will publish a daily summary of UK share trading beginning Friday and will also release a year of historical trading data. This initiative is an interim step before a consolidated tape that would unite trading information into a single feed. The scope of the feed, expected to include pre-trade and post-trade data, will be detailed on Friday. Debate has focused on whether banks should disclose pre-trade pricing data, while there is broad agreement on providing post-trade information.