10.V Bottom-up versus top-down

Related to the previous paragraph is the question how to achieve high quality publication and the ‘optimal’ degree of consolidation. Should publication and consolidation services by achieved through market forces (i.e. bottom-up), regulation (i.e. top-down), or a combination of both? Ideally, market forces would lead to high quality publication and consolidation of equity pre- and post-trade data. A market-driven solution should allow to achieve technically highly sophisticated and innovative solutions.1 However, there can be barriers preventing market forces to achieve high quality published and consolidated equity pre- and post-trade data. An example includes the execution risks in setting up a consolidated tape or consolidated quote.2 Regulation, or at least a combination of industry-initiatives and regulation, might therefore be necessary in order to ensure high quality published and consolidated equity pre- and post-trade data.3