Travers Smith LLP has advised ETS Connect UK, following its appointment by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), on the delivery and successful launch of the UK’s first consolidated bond tape.
Launched today, the new service aggregates post-trade bond transaction data from across UK trading venues, providing investors and market participants with a single, real-time source of prices and trading activity for the first time. Capturing over 95% of bonds traded across UK venues, the new tape marks the UK as the first country outside North America to introduce such a solution for bonds.
The Travers Smith team played a key role in establishing the contractual infrastructure underpinning the consolidated tape, drafting critical contracts and standard terms, including inbound licences for bond trade data from exchanges and outbound licences for tape data to users and redistributors.
James Longster, Partner in the Technology & Commercial Transactions team at Travers Smith, commented:
"It’s been a privilege to help ETS Connect to deliver this pioneering market infrastructure for the UK. The consolidated tape will transform transparency and efficiency in the bond market, benefiting investors, market participants and the UK’s global reputation as a financial centre. Our team has enjoyed working closely with ETS from appointment through to launch, and we look forward to seeing the positive market impact of the tape."
James Longster was supported on the project by Andy Maxwell, Sarah Robinson, Katie Hindley, and Jorja Hills. Regulatory advice was provided by Tim Lewis, (Head of Travers Smith's Financial Services & Markets Department).
ETS Connect UK was appointed by the FCA following a competitive tender process to design, implement and operate the UK's consolidated bond tape under a five-year supervised contract. The tape aggregates and distributes comprehensive real-time and historic bond trade data, providing a single source of truth for post-trade bond transparency in the UK.
This forms part of a broader initiative to drive growth, improve transparency and enhance the competitiveness of UK capital markets.
