--- title: "ESMA Q&A 2827 — Q&A — Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP) [Answer Published]" shortTitle: "ESMA Q&A 2827 — Q&A — Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP) [Answer Published]" answer_id: ESMA_QA_2827 topic: "Data reporting services providers" status: "Answer Published" type: qa instrument_type: qa authority: ESMA binding: false binding_character: non_binding legal_status: in_force regulation: "MiFIR" mifir_level3: true mica_level2: false legal_basis: "Articles 5, 6 and 12(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155" date: 1 April 2026 source_link: https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-data/questions-answers/2827 lifecycle: "Answer Published" text_version: "ESMA Q&A register, 1 April 2026" source_url: "https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-data/questions-answers/2827" check_status: matched verified: true last_checked: 2026-10-26 checked_against: "the ESMA publication" source: prepared_by: "ESMA" published_by: "ESMA" published_in: "ESMA Q&A tool" evidence: prepared_by: "ESMA Answer" locator: "ESMA Q&A entry ESMA_QA_2827: field 'ESMA Answer', no 'Answer provided by' line" document_type: "qa_answer" legal_nature: "not_legislation" addressees: "not stated in the document" dates: published_on: "2026-04-01" question_submitted_on: "2026-04-01" locators: published_on: "ESMA Q&A Excel export ESMA_QA_2827, column 'Esma responses', date line" question_submitted_on: "ESMA Q&A Excel export ESMA_QA_2827, column 'Date of submission'" lifecycle_label: "Answer Published" --- **Answer by ESMA, published in its Q&A tool · not legislation · published 1 Apr 2026 [Answer Published]** *Answer Published · ESMA Q&A register, 1 April 2026 · Checked against the ESMA publication on 26 Oct 2026 · [Official source](https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-data/questions-answers/2827)* | | | |---|---| | **Full title** | ESMA Q&A 2827 — Q&A — Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP) \[Answer Published\] | | **Prepared by** | ESMA | | **Published by** | ESMA, in the ESMA Q&A tool | | **Reference** | ESMA_QA_2827 | | **Document type** | Q&A | | **Legal nature** | Not legislation | | **Addressees** | Not stated in the document | | **Dates** | Published 1 April 2026; question submitted 1 April 2026 | | **Legal basis** | Articles 5, 6 and 12(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155 | | **Related instruments** | None recorded | | **Text on this page** | Word for word — the full text of the ESMA publication | **Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP)** ### Question For trading venues subject to the obligations in Article 12 (1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155, which requires business clocks capable of achieving a granularity of 0.1 microseconds, would the dissemination of timestamps at this level of granularity in their existing market data feeds be considered compliant with the requirements in Articles 5 and 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155 to provide timestamps to the CTPs with a less granular precision of six decimal places? *** ### Answer The RTS 2025/1155 specifies that the timestamp fields to be transmitted to the CTP must follow the ISO 8601 date‑time format with six decimal places (i.e. ss.dddddd) representing fractions of a second in microseconds, as set out in Table 1 of Annex III, where timestamps must be provided in the format YYYY‑MM‑DDThh:mm:ss.ddddddZ. ESMA confirms that a data contributor will be considered compliant with the timestamp requirements of Articles 5 and 6 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155 if it transmits timestamps with at least six decimal (microsecond) digits and follows the ISO 8601 format. *** **Source:** [ESMA original document](https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-data/questions-answers/2827)