UK Financial Watchdog Asks for Bond Tape Suspension to Be Lifted

The Financial Conduct Authority has applied to a London court for permission to lift the suspension on a major bond data initiative.

Plans to build a so-called consolidated tape, bringing all bond trading data in the UK into one single stream, were put on hold in September due to a legal challenge. It meant the contract awarded to Etrading Software was automatically suspended due to UK public procurement law.

“It is in the public interest to deliver the important benefits of the tape as soon as possible,” the FCA said in a statement published Monday. “The legal challenge, which we ...