Investors in Europe learned the hard way this month that key structural differences between some of the region’s main stock exchanges and their U.S. counterparts put them at a costly disadvantage when it comes to trading stocks.
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The consolidated tape would save investors “billions of euros…provide better investment outcomes for investors [and] promote greater competition and resilience” among trading venues, said Niki Beattie, chief executive of Market Structure Partners and an independent, non executive chair at Aquis. Market Structure Partners, a U.K.-based consulting firm, in October published a report for the European Commission on the merits of establishing a consolidated tape. That followed a call in December from the European Securities and Markets Authority, the regional regulator, to establish a consolidated tape for stock quotes. …