A JV between major exchanges across Europe have today announced the incorporation of the new company, EuroCTP, through which the participants aim to bid to become the EU’s equities and ETF consolidated tape (CT) provider.
EuroCTP is a project which arose in response to the European Commission’s previously published proposal for an equities tape and aims to tender as the CT provider in the EU’s future selection process.
In the initial announcement declaring the exchanges’ intention to collaborate on a CT back in February, EuroCTP asserted that “the participants are recognised specialists in supplying reliable and high-quality market data and are well-positioned to deliver a CT quickly, efficiently, and to the highest operational standards”.
A CT, across the various asset classes, has been the subject of much debate in the market for some time, with regulators currently welcoming feedback from participants on what shape the final framework should take, both in the EU and the UK.
Speaking to The TRADE, Natan Tiefenbrun, president of Cboe Europe (not a shareholder in EuroCTP), highlighted some key points of consideration: “Our focus remains on ensuring the legislation – still under negotiation – will mandate a consolidated tape that meets the needs of consumers, including essential information from intraday and closing auction phases, is priced to succeed, and fairly rewards all data contributors.”
He added: “Only a tape with these characteristics will lower barriers to participation and support competition and growth in European equity markets. We continue to see members of the exchange consortium pushing in the opposite direction.”
Read more: Battle lines are drawn over European consolidated tape project
In April, five major buy- and sell-side institutions (Barclays, BlackRock, Crédit Agricole CIB, Société Générale and UniCredit) announced their intention to jointly explore the establishment of a consolidated tape for equities and ETFs. In the same statement, the institutions confirmed that they supported the current proposals to include pre-trade data.
The EuroCTP JV is made up of participants across 26 of the EU’s member states and includes: BME, Deutsche Boerse Group, Euronext exchanges (Borsa Italiana, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lison, Paris, Oslo Børs), Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq exchanges (Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Iceland, Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius), among others.
The shareholders of EuroCTP are operators of regulated markets and have confirmed their intention to ensure the long-term success of both market participants and retail investors, aiming to maintain and strengthen the European capital market ecosystem.
The company is set to appoint a board of directors, as well as ensuring that a representative of all the participating exchanges are included in a supervisory board. Jorge Yzaguirre Scharfhausen has been elected chair of that supervisory board, with the chief executive of the business to be announced soon.
Speaking in an announcement, Yzaguirre Scharfhausen said: “The initiative that has led to the creation of EuroCTP is a true representation of European capital markets and shows a broader range of interests than any other consolidated tape proposal, its aim is to strengthen the EU Capital Market Union.
“We are proud to be the first European consolidated tape initiative for equities and ETFs to have established a company. We are now working on the best solution for the provision of a consolidated tape in the European Union.”
EuroCTP explained that the development of the new company has been in the works for more than a year with shareholders having already made ‘significant investments’ and confirming their commitment to fully financing both the development and implementation of the CT.