United Kingdom: Announcement of two FCA studies on wholesale markets for trading data

On 11 January 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom announces that it will conduct two studies on the competition in the markets for wholesale trading data. In the first study (which will commence this summer), the FCA will approach the complexity of switching to alternative cheaper providers due to complex contracts posing an obstacle to such changes. In the second study (which will be initiated at the end of the year), the FCA will inquire whether the costly way of attaining access to credit rating data is limiting new market entrants.