London Stock Exchange defends pricing of market data

LONDON (Reuters) - The pricing of stock market data could be more transparent but no "substantive" changes were needed by European Union regulators, London Stock Exchange Chief Executive David Schwimmer said on Tuesday.

The price of market data has become a battle ground between exchanges, who generate data, and investment managers and brokers who need the data to meet a requirement to demonstrate they are getting the best deals for their customers.

The EU's markets watchdog, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), is due to recommend later in the year whether the bloc's executive should mandate a single feed for stock market prices, which could impact the level of prices charged by exchanges to make it commercially viable.

"There are many different ways to slice and dice market data," Schwimmer told the annual Sibos conference.

The regulatory focus on data has been generally constructive with a positive impact on transparency, he said.

"We think there is room for improvement in terms of some of the disclosures, some of the pricing."

But "by and large", the notion that market data should be available under what EU rules calls a "reasonable commercial basis" was working pretty well, Schwimmer said.

"We would not advocate a substantive change there," he added.

His comments echo those of other exchanges and exchange industry bodies.

(Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Louise Heavens)

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