On 6 October 2026, SIX published the fourth edition of its “Market Data Study”, carried out with Crisil Coalition Greenwich, a benchmarking and analytics firm for the financial sector. The central message: artificial intelligence and the diversification of delivery models are increasing the importance of market data providers seen as trustworthy. A finding to be read for what it is: SIX is itself a provider of financial information and co-author of the study, which it presents in its own press release.
Who was surveyed
According to the SIX press release, the survey was conducted between May and June 2026 among 73 buy-side and sell-side firms in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe: asset managers, wealth managers and private banks, investment banks and brokers. The sample remains small, and the press release does not specify the share of Swiss institutions. All the percentages that follow come from this survey, as reported by SIX.
AI, already in the workflows
According to the study, 86% of respondents are already using or evaluating AI in their workflows. And 88% believe that market data providers can help ensure the accuracy and reliability of these systems.
As for how to achieve this, 73% of those surveyed cite high-quality, accurate and complete data, and 62% transparency about data origin and methodology. The report also stresses context: an AI system needs to know what a piece of data represents, how it was classified and within what limits it should be used. Without this framework, accurate data can still produce misleading results.
MCP: plugging AI directly into the data
The most operational point concerns the Model Context Protocol (MCP), one of the new ways of connecting AI applications directly to data. According to the study, 58% of respondents are considering it or have already committed to it; among those who have committed, 57% are already using or testing an MCP server. The report sees this as easier access, but also as raising the stakes: the information exposed must be well structured, governed and properly contextualised.
Multiplying sourcing channels
Vendors and redistributors remain the most common source, used by 67% of respondents, but 60% also buy directly from exchanges. On the delivery side, streaming APIs are used by 84% of those surveyed, and 86% expect more direct access to market data via the cloud over the next three to five years. For providers, this means managing a wider range of access methods and infrastructure requirements.
Latency and budgets under strain
Performance expectations are rising at the same time. According to the survey:
- 56% of respondents use real-time data throughout the day;
- trade execution is the leading use case, cited by 67%;
- 78% say they are willing to pay for lower latency;
- 60% expect their market data budgets to increase.
This expected increase is by no means a blank cheque: according to the report, cost is becoming a growing concern, with market participants scrutinising the value they obtain more closely while demanding high performance.
Europe: the “consolidated tape” in sight
Finally, the study looks at the evolving structure of the European market. Seventy percent of respondents are considering adding a European “consolidated tape” provider to their current data sources, expecting in particular better market visibility and greater investor confidence. Nearly half believe that enhanced transparency could, over time, support trading activity and volumes on a pan-European scale.
What the two partners say
Matthew Nurse, Head Market Data in the Financial Information division of SIX, sums it up: “AI is shining a brighter light on what trusted market data must look like in practice.” In his view, accuracy remains fundamental, but firms also need to know where data comes from, how it is governed and in what context to interpret it, all the more so as technologies such as MCP bring AI applications closer to market data.
David Easthope, Head of FinTech, Market Structure & Technology at Crisil Coalition Greenwich, for his part highlights “everything firms now expect from market data providers, from supporting AI applications to the demands of real-time trading”.
What this changes for financial players
For banks and asset managers, including in French-speaking Switzerland, the survey above all outlines a list of concrete questions: traceability of the data feeding AI tools, documentation of methodologies, the choice between redistributors and direct access to exchanges, and the trade-off between latency and cost. It does not, however, provide any figures specific to the Swiss financial centre.
It is worth bearing in mind who is speaking. SIX, which serves the Swiss and Spanish financial centres, operates exchanges and provides financial information; it is owned by its users, some 120 financial institutions. That it highlights “trust” as the decisive criterion for choosing a data provider is anything but neutral. The full report can be downloaded from the SIX website.
