In July Cesr (Committee of European Securities Regulators) sent a report to the EC insisting that the introduction of a European consolidated tape for EU market data is a "necessity". The body also warned that without regulatory intervention, market forces are "unlikely to deliver an adequate and affordable consolidation of transparency information on a pan-European basis".

Now, FPL, a not-for-profit industry standards body, has offered a response to Cesr after requests from its members. The group says that both the standard setting and governance of the new authority are two key business processes that would be required for the establishment and effective delivery of a consolidated tape.

It proposes that the necessary Consolidated Tape Delivery Authority (CTDA) should be established by market participants as a not-for-profit entity and be able to demonstrate "strong, representative governance and a detailed business and technical understanding of the issues". In addition, the organisation's governance board should be democratically elected and made up of representatives from across the industry.

Stuart Adams, regional director, Emea, FPL, says: "To date the industry has already created a number of consolidated tapes, but the absence of any universal standard has stifled widespread acceptance or uptake. FPL proposes that the use of open standards for the content and delivery of a consolidated tape would prove hugely beneficial to market participants and regulators, this would effectively address the success criteria set out by Cesr and enable data providers to compete with their added value services."

Finextra recently talked to Ian Cohen, chairman of the Association of Financial Markets in Europe, about a new cross industry group being set up to discuss the development of a European consolidated tape. The group - which will include representatives from the buy and sell side, brokers, exchanges, market data vendors, and FpML - will meet "in the next few weeks" to discuss strategic developments.

Read the FPL proposal here: