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FastMatch revealed in 2016 it was working with other platforms and market makers to create a consolidated tape for FX to provide a last-sale data feed with price, size and timestamps.
However, despite its worthy ambition to provide more data at lower cost, the voluntary participation aspect of the foreign-exchange consolidated tape (FXCT) project was an obvious limitation.
FXCT was inspired in part by the Consolidated Tape Association, which oversees the dissemination of real-time trade and quote information on a number of exchanges. Yet the efficacy of this initiative was thrown into question by a recent report by the Healthy Markets Association, which indicated that non-competitive forces for equity market data have created substantial upward pressures on prices.
The report notes that a market participant who wanted the fastest connections with the most relevant trading information for Bats, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq has seen its costs rise from $72,150 per month on June 1, 2012, to $182,775 on June 1, 2017.
