WFE Issues Clarifying Statement on Nature of Stock Market Data

Traders Magazine Online News, January 11, 2019

John D'Antona Jr.

The World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE"), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, issued a statement on stock market data earleir this week, as follows:

The WFE has noted that the topic of stock market data – information on the price at which shares are trading – periodically attracts commentary. The key facts do not change over time but are not always kept in mind in such commentary. This statement highlights the most significant of these:

• It is stock exchanges that create information (‘data products’) about the price at which shares are trading. This information would not exist but for the role played by exchanges.
• Exchanges create this information as an integral part of the process of bringing together buyers and sellers. (This is why it is termed a ‘joint product’.)
• Exchanges also perform a number of other crucial functions in support of this process, such as market surveillance and information technology, thereby ensuring the integrity of the information.
• The quality of the information that exchanges create means it has an economic value. The price at which information is licensed is accordingly a commercial matter for each individual consumer and exchange. 
• Free information is typically available to consumers who are willing to wait a short time for it.

The WFE stands ready to assist any regulators who are concerned about the role and nature of market data.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

• Exchanges and ECNs