Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is aiming to tackle a "drastic under-reporting" of market liquidity that has driven some companies to move their
UK Regulator to Release Comprehensive Trading Data for London Shares
FCA's Initiative to Improve Market Transparency
LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator wants to publish all trading data for London-listed shares in a bid to tackle the under-reporting of market liquidity that has driven some companies to shift their listing to the United States, the watchdog said on Monday.
Understanding Dark Pools
The Financial Conduct Authority's interim director of markets, Simon Walls, told the Financial Times in a story published earlier on Monday that the regulator planned to collect and publish all share-trading data from every venue, including exchanges and dark pools.
Future Plans for Consolidated Tape
Dark pools are private exchanges for trading securities often popular with institutional investors who want to execute large transactions without unduly affecting prices.
Impact on London Stock Exchange
A spokesperson for the FCA confirmed the plans to Reuters.
"The truth is we have way more liquidity here than is often reported and that is just silly," Walls told the FT. "We are talking to loads of parties at the moment about whether the FCA can, at a little bit of risk to ourselves, step in and just sort this out."
The FCA's plans are a stopgap, the FT reported, before the regulator launches its "consolidated tape" for equities, likely next year. This tape will combine real-time data from different equity trading platforms into a single feed.
The proposals are part of a wider effort by the FCA to boost the appeal of the London Stock Exchange, which is battling a downturn in the number of new stock market listings and the shift of some existing companies to other exchanges, typically in the United States, where executives think they can get a better valuation.
In January, Britain's revamped framework for raising capital came into force, aiming to make it easier and cheaper for listed and private companies to attract funding.
The FCA believes most UK market share liquidity data is under-reported because it is only based on the London Stock Exchange's central limit order book and excludes many trades, including periodic orders at the LSE, the FT reported.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru and Phoebe Seers in London; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Anil D'Silva)
