Etrading Software has set 22 June 2026 in stone as its go-live date for the UK’s bonds consolidated tape.
“This is the earliest date that we believe will allow us to deliver a high-quality tape. If we go any quicker than that, the risk is that it will be a struggle to bring all the data contributors with us, and we are absolutely keen to work collaboratively on this,” CEO Sassan Danesh stated during a recent webinar.
“We have our finances fully locked in. We have the staff deployed. All our tech components are built and tested – the majority are already in use in our production services, so our tech lift is minimal. Primarily, it consists of spinning up new instances with these existing components and configuring them for the CT workflow.
“We’re also conscious that if we delay past June there is a risk that there may start to be clashes with tape infrastructures being set up in the EU.”
In Europe, the separate consolidated tape contract was awarded to fairCT, led by Ediphy, in July 2025.
READ MORE: FairCT wins EU bond CT tender
“We believe we will be providing this for excellent value for money. We believe that fees will not be showstopping for the user base,” Danesh added.
The weighted average price cap (WAPC), which Etrading Software won the UK contract with, is 68p.
READ MORE: Bidding for nothing – what do you get for 68p?
Ediphy has made a challenge to the FCA’s awarding of the tape to Etrading Software, and this is rumbling on in the background – although this will not be a limiting factor for Etrading Software’s progress with the tape, it confirmed.
In the latest High Court documents, Ediphy’s response to the FCA’s request for further information in late November, reveals more about alleged faults in the bidding process.
READ MORE: Ediphy slams FCA for CTP auction chaos
In its initial complaint, Ediphy alleged that a fault in the auction software caused its bid to be overlooked. The FCA in turn, suggested that the error was human.
READ MORE: “Carelessness, inattention, inadequate safeguards”: FCA hits back at Ediphy
Now, Ediphy has stated, “Once [fairCT chief operating officer Stewart] Quinn had clicked the ‘CONFIRM BID’ button – as he had done the previous 53 times – he did not continue to monitor the screen, trusting that the system had worked as intended and as it had in the preceding 53 instances.”
The company noted that Quinn cannot recall whether he was given the option to download the confirmation document after bidding in Round 54, nor does he recall a screen stating ‘no bid form submitted’.
Ediphy maintains that the fault lies with the regulator: “If it is now the [FCA’s] case that bidders were required, after confirming a bid, to continue [to] monitor the WebBidder E- Auction Platform screen for the entire 30 minute window of each of the 54 rounds, such requirement was i) Manifestly excessive and in gross disproportion to the nature, complexity and cost of the contract, and ii) undisclosed to bidders, in the user manual or otherwise.”
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