NYSE Technologies plans consolidated tape launch in 2011

NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology unit of NYSE Euronext, has become the latest firm to announce its intention to develop a consolidated source of post-trade data for European equities.
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NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology unit of NYSE Euronext, has become the latest firm to announce its intention to develop a consolidated source of post-trade data for European equities.

The solution, which is due to be launched in Q3 2011, will be available both in real time and 15-minute delayed formats. The 15-minute delayed data, referred to as the Tape of Record will be offered to all investors for free and will be accessible via the Internet and market data vendors.

On offer will be post-trade data sourced from regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

“A Tape of Record is a very simple and practical application of the newly-defined standards that address transparency issues in a manner very similar to what investors already know today as ”time and sales'” said Mark Schaedel, global head of data products, NYSE Technologies. “While there is no single source for ”time and sales' data today, it informs investors with a consistent view of the markets.”

NYSE Technologies plans to establish partnerships with other market participants to offer value-added consolidated tape solutions and will also lend its technology to other providers and Approved Publication Arrangements (APAs) so they can power their own tapes.

In its technical advice document given to the European Commission ahead of the MiFID review, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), which is responsible for coordinating securities regulation across the continent, recommended the creation of APAs, entities that would be responsible for cleaning data to an acceptable standard for consolidators. The regulator has also held separate discussions with market participants on improving the quality of OTC market data by proposing seven flags used to identify different types of trade.

According to NYSE Technologies, its consolidated tape will deliver real-time data at a fraction of the current cost because of commitments by domestic exchanges to unbundle their level one data.

The firm will also look to leverage its existing partnership with OTC reporting venue Markit BOAT formed in July 2010, which led to the creation of a consolidated OTC tape that includes trades reported to Markit BOAT and NYSE Euronext's OTC trade reporting platform.

“The consolidated tape has been highlighted by regulators and market participants as an important area of focus. As a market participant, I look forward to comparing this proposed solution with the others, either regulator or market driven, which will be offered to the market”, said Scott Cowling, head of scientific equity trading at asset manager BlackRock in Europe.

NYSE Technologies announcement closely follows a similar initiative from data vendor Thomson Reuters, which plans to release its own consolidated tape by Q4 next year.

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