FCA Unveils UK Equity Market Transparency Reforms and Consolidated Tape Framework

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a comprehensive package of reforms designed to enhance transparency, improve access to market-wide data, and bolster confidence across UK equity markets. The package establishes the framework for a future equity consolidated tape, initiates consultations on targeted market structure reforms, and introduces an interim reporting tool for share trading activity. According to the regulator, competition and innovation across UK equity markets have supported liquidity and resilience, but market fragmentation has made obtaining comprehensive trading data complex and costly. As a result, market-wide data remains under-used, and market depth can be under-appreciated. The planned consolidated tape will aggregate pre- and post-trade information from across multiple venues into a single source, with the FCA setting a timeline to deliver the tape within the next 18 months. To bridge the gap before the full tape goes live, the FCA has rolled out a market activity reporter for shares. This interim tool provides daily visibility of overall UK equity trading volumes to help participants access a unified market overview. The equity initiatives build on the rollout of the UK bond consolidated tape in June 2026, which has registered over 1.6 million licence subscriptions. Together, the measures form part of the regulator's broader capital markets reform programme. The FCA is seeking stakeholder feedback on two consultation papers, CP26/30 and CP26/31, until 16 October 2026. Following the consultation period, the regulator intends to commence the procurement process to select the provider for the equity consolidated tape.