In August 2023 the FCA released its update on the highly anticipated Wholesale Market Data Study, stating that it will publish its findings in March 2024, focusing on “concerns that competition may not be working well”. The FCA also stated that it would be assessing the reality and risks of “bundling of core services with other data services, making it difficult for users to switch; restrictive terms around data usage; high barriers to market entry; high charges for users when renewing their contracts; and, a low level of meaningful innovation in the market”.Against this backdrop of increasing regulatory scrutiny, Substantive Research’s latest analysis of 2023 market data pricing shows that prices are going up faster than ever, inconsistency of charges for identical products and use cases has increased, and agreements remain opaque. The analysis shows that for anyone renewing market data contract agreements in 2023, the repricing has been comprehensive and aggressive:• For ratings agencies, the average price increase for an unchanged customer use case is 12% - not including year-on-year inflation increases within a multi-year contract. • For index providers, the average price increase for an unchanged customer use case is 13% - not including year-on-year inflation increases within a multi year contract. A number of outlier providers are repricing clients by up to 600%.• Amongst index providers, Substantive Research had previously identified that for specific products, some consumers are paying more than 26 times the amount that others are paying for very similar requirements.• For multi-year agreements signed in 2022, the average annual inflation increase is 5% for each year covered in the agreement, but for consumers signing multi-year agreements starting in 2023, that rate has gone up to 8%. Mike Carrodus, CEO of Substantive Research, says: “Data consumers looking to understand pricing models and finding ways to efficiently manage market data budgets are presented with the additional challenge that market data providers and vendors are also introducing material changes into their current pricing structures. These include increased bundling of products, when consumers may only wish to buy and pay for a specific product inside that bundle, and changes in primary pricing mechanisms, making it even more difficult for consumers to compare costs against previous agreements."