The Exchange has responded to FSA's Discussion Paper on bond market transparency. We share FSA’s view that there could well be market failures in the bond market, but that this is not conclusive.
If there is deemed to be a market failure, we do not believe it would be appropriate to extend the MiFID provisions, which are equity-specific, to bonds on an identical basis. If regulators decide that more transparency is required and that action should be taken, then any measures should be tailored to meet the specific features of the bond markets.