Market participants have been asking for a bond consolidated tape for years; and they\u2019re going to have to wait a little longer than planned, with both the EU and UK tapes facing delays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the UK, Etrading Software was granted the contract by the FCA in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Etrading Software to provide UK bond CT<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n However, after the FCA extended the standstill period on its decision, it became clear that rival bidder Ediphy had launched legal proceedings against the regulator challenging its decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the court documents have not been made public, The DESK has confirmed that the challenge complains of a technically faulty auction process and a claim of conflict of interest for the FCA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Questions have also been raised around the contract price point, which dropped from an estimated \u00a329.5 million to \u00a34 million in the final auction.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Clouds gather around UK transparency as consolidated tape decision delayed<\/a><\/p>\n Sassan Danesh, CEO of Etrading Software, has been vocal in his concerns that delaying the UK process could negatively impact the broader rollout of consolidated tapes and put operational strain on market participants.<\/p>\n Chris Murphy, co-founder and CEO of Ediphy, has not publicly commented on the legal challenge.<\/p>\n In Europe, ESMA awarded Ediphy (fairCT) the contract in July. The company\u2019s backers include Cboe Global Markets, FactSet, Google Cloud, Norges Bank Investment Management, TP ICAP and UBS.<\/p>\n