The Managed Funds Association (MFA), a representative association for the global alternative asset management industry, has submitted a comment letter to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) calling for the swift implementation of a consolidated tape for UK fixed income markets.
The letter is a response to the FCA’s consultation paper last December on the framework for a consolidated tape for fixed income securities.
According to the letter, the MFA supports the implementation of a consolidated tape for fixed income securities because it will improve market participants’ access to timely, accurate data. The MFA believes that market data is critical to investment managers’ strategies and improved data will benefit UK market competitiveness. The MFA also encourages the UK to improve the functioning of an even larger portion of its capital markets by developing a consolidated tape for equities.
“Implementing a consolidated tape for the UK’s fixed income markets will improve transparency, bolster liquidity, and make the UK’s capital markets more competitive. Making accurate, and timely market information widely available through a consolidated tape will empower alternative asset managers to better serve their investors, including UK pensions and charities,” said Bryan Corbett, the MFA’s President and CEO. “We also urge the FCA to swiftly implement a consolidated tape for equities to further benefit investors and secure the UK as a leading financial centre.”
The MFA’s letter highlights that to be successful, the consolidated tape must be reliable, reasonably priced and offer customisable options to allow managers to subscribe only to the datasets necessary for its business. To keep data costs reasonable, the MFA is encouraging the FCA to keep a fair pricing requirement in its proposal but is opposed to revenue sharing between the consolidated tape provider and the data providers.
