On 29 July 2022, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a Draft Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as regards enhancing market data transparency, removing obstacles to the emergence of a consolidated tape, optimising the trading obligations and prohibiting receiving payments for forwarding client orders.

The amendments included in the report are informed by the desire to establish a regulatory framework conducive to an environment where all market participants benefit from trading. The amendments are guided by four main principles:

  • reducing fragmentation and cross-border barriers;
  • levelling the playing field, supporting a healthy degree of competition between different execution venues and methods;
  • allowing EU firms to be competitive internationally and more attractive for EU and third-countries investors; and
  • encouraging retail participation and strengthening investor protection.

The Draft Report seeks to establish the conditions for the emergence of a consolidated tape (CT) in Europe across all asset clauses. A CT displaying real-time process for financial instruments across the EU is seen as a fundamental tool to reduce fragmentation and improve attractiveness of EU capital markets, providing great benefits to end investors.