The City watchdog has set out plans to launch a consolidated record of trading across UK equity markets within 18 months, as it seeks to make share-market activity easier and cheaper to track.
A proposed "consolidated tape" will combine trading information from different exchanges and venues into a single source, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
It will include data from before and after trades take place, giving investors a broader view of prices, liquidity and market activity.
UK investors currently have access to a wide range of trading venues, which the FCA said had encouraged competition and innovation. However, this has also fragmented market data, making it expensive and complicated to build a complete picture of trading.
The regulator has launched an interim market activity reporter showing total daily UK equity trading volumes while the full service is developed.
Simon Walls, executive director of markets at the FCA, said: "A consolidated tape will make it simpler and easier for investors to see the whole market picture."
The FCA will seek a provider after considering responses to its consultations, which close on October 16. The package also asks for views on how the regulator should monitor market quality and when future intervention may be needed.
The initiative follows the launch of the UK's bond consolidated tape in June, which has attracted more than 1.6 million licence subscriptions.
Adam Farkas, chief executive of AFME, the European financial markets body, said the FCA's package "recognises that UK markets are functioning effectively while taking practical steps to make market-wide information easier to access and use. This is a proportionate and evidence-based approach to market reform".
Hugo Gordon, head of capital markets at the Investment Association, said: "By bringing together both pre-and post-trade data from across the market into a single source, the tape will improve access to market-wide data and support more transparent and efficient UK capital markets. The focus can now shift towards successful delivery and implementation."
Earlier this week, the EU authorised EuroCTP to operate its consolidated tape for shares and exchange-traded funds, with the service expected to launch after a transition period ending on September 30
EuroCTP is backed by exchanges including Deutsche Börse (XETRA:DB1), Euronext, Nasdaq Nordic and SIX. Aquis Exchange and Cboe, the operator of the Chicago options exchange, teamed up the year before to pitch for the contract.
