18.II.3 Concluding remarks

EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation can be defined in a narrow or broad way. Both definitions have their pros and cons, but the broad definition suits best with the current EU situation. The current EU situation is characterised by a highly fragmented equity market and has been prone to technological innovation. The result is a higher demand for equity pre- and post-trade data in order to obtain a consolidated overview of trading. A broad definition of EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation suits best with this setting. This is because a broad definition includes all EU requirements for equity pre- and post-trade transparency, with the term ‘transparency’ being a genus that includes several species, such as mandatory disclosure, publication and consolidation arrangements, and the price of equity pre- and post-trade data. At the same time, a broad definition is not perfect. A main disadvantage is unclarity. Although better suited for the current EU situation, a broad definition of EU equity pre- and post-trade transparency regulation makes it hard to assess where the definition ends.