19.III.2.4 Preferences of market participants

Preferences of market participants are an important subfactor that explain the amount of EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation. The EU believes that all market participants (the so-called buy-side, sell-side, and issuers) benefit from a high degree of equity pre- and post-trade transparency. At the same time, the EU acknowledges that exceptions to equity pre- and post-trade data publication (dark liquidity and deferral of post-trade data publication) are necessary to preserve liquidity. The market-shaping and market-led philosophy have different perspectives of what preferences of market participants are most important in designing the structure of the EU equity market, including EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation. Market participants have different needs in terms of data characteristics, such as speed and the amount of data. What market participants have in common is a growing demand for equity pre- and post-trade data. The growth in demand is the result of fragmentation and technological innovation, a trend which seriously gained momentum under MiFID I and which continues under MiFID II. The growth in data demand has resulted in stronger EU emphasis on consolidation of data, as well as ‘reasonable’ prices for EU equity pre- and post-trade data. The result is more EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation from the ISD to MiFID II.