On 15 November 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Discussion Paper 24/2 ‘Improving the UK transaction reporting regime’ (DP24/2).

Purpose

The FCA has issued DP24/2 to help inform its consultative position on the development of a new transaction reporting regime that will remove unnecessary burdens for firms while maintaining the high regulatory standards UK markets are renowned for. This includes potential changes to the fields for transaction reporting which are contained in Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) 22 Annex I Table 2 as supplemented by Annex I Table I and Annex II.

Structure

The FCA has organised DP24/2 as follows:

• Chapter 2 – background and data on the transaction reporting regime, aiming to stimulate discussion around data quality and the usefulness of transaction reports for market monitoring purposes.
• Chapter 3 – considers the overall shape of the transaction reporting regime, seeking feedback on the relative merits of simplification against the cost of change. The FCA is also seeking feedback on areas of the regime that are most burdensome for firms, as well as the role it could play in accommodating the development of new and existing technologies.
• Chapter 4 – seeks feedback on the scope of firms subject to transaction reporting obligations and the scope of financial instruments captured by requirements. The FCA considers the scope of reporting obligations for over-the-counter derivatives and identifiers for these instruments.
• Chapter 5 – considers potential changes to the fields contained in RTS 22 to improve data quality. It considers where the FCA could add new fields to improve use of data, where existing fields could be removed to streamline reporting and trading scenarios where clearer guidance may be needed to improve outcomes.

Next steps

The deadline for comments on DP24/2 is 14 February 2025.