Europe Reg Desk

Friday, 2026-07-31 · covering the last 24h (30–31 Jul 2026)

EU & ESMA

ESMA authorises EuroCTP as the EU's first Consolidated Tape Provider for shares and ETFs. ESMA has formally authorised EuroCTP B.V. — a joint venture of 15 European exchange groups — to operate the equities/ETF consolidated tape under MiFIR, with a transition period to 30 September 2026 to finalise operational and technical arrangements before the service goes live. EuroCTP will run the tape for five years under ESMA's direct supervision; retail investors, academics, civil society and regulators get the data free, with other users paying a reasonable fee. This is the first of MiFIR's three consolidated tapes (shares/ETFs now selected and authorised; bonds and OTC derivatives CTP selections in train) to reach authorisation, a concrete step beyond the feedback-statement stage previously reported. ESMA press release

United Kingdom

FCA advances equity market transparency package: two consultations plus a live interim data tool. The FCA published CP26/30 (targeted market-structure transparency reforms recognising the growth of bilateral trading) and CP26/31 (framework and next steps for a UK equity consolidated tape), both open for feedback until 16 October 2026, setting a path to a fully operational tape targeted for early 2027 subject to a competitive procurement. Alongside the consultations the FCA launched, with immediate effect, a free "market activity reporter" giving daily UK equity trading volumes by venue — an interim aggregate addressing the fact that standard order-book data captures only a fraction of actual UK trading volume once dark pools, periodic auctions and off-exchange flow are included. FCA press release

National & exchanges

No material new items today from BaFin/Deutsche Börse, AMF/Euronext, Consob/Borsa Italiana, CNMV/BME, AFM, SIX or Nasdaq Nordic beyond routine notices; standing items (ESMA T+1 statement, LSE N11/26 order-flag notice, LSEG's H1 2026 LSE 24 update) are unchanged since yesterday's edition.

Informational only — summaries of public regulatory sources; not advice.