Financial regulator's intent to sign Sopra Steria paves way for more streamlined collection and sharing of data
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has moved towards keeping a closer eye on the industry with a contract with systems integrator Sopra Steria for a Markets Data Processing System.
The UK's financial regulator wants to implement the system as part of a large scale upgrade of its IT estate, with an emphasis on taking in a mountain of data from banks and other financial service providers on a daily basis.
It has indicated the intention to sign Sopra Steria – which runs the NHS Shared Business Service and the Offender Management National Infrastructure for the Ministry of Justice – as a strategic partner, following a standstill period, in an eight year deal worth £23.5 million. Supplying the Market Data Processing System will be the priority within the deal.
The authority is having to upgrade its IT systems to meet the terms of the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), which covers communications, disclosure and transparency in trading financial instruments.
It has been effect in the UK since 2007, but has been revised to provide more protection for investors in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, with the changes due to take effect at the beginning of next year.
Validation demand
The prime requirement in the tender process has been for a system that could handle the daily collection of data from the companies required to submit information, along with the validation and processing of financial reports and reference data.
A spokesperson for the FCA told UKAuthority: “The transaction reporting systems will enable us to build and support a technical solution for processing large volumes of MiFID II transaction report, transparency reports, double volume cap reports and commodity position reports and the associated instrument reference data from investment firms and trading venues.”
The FCA stated in the tender document that it also plans to use the system to share data with other agencies, such as the European Securities and Markets Authority, and provide an industry test environment.
Image: Howard Lake, Colchester, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
