Europe’s primary markets regulator wants to put data at the heart of its agenda, according to its executive director, in a move that will cement it as a "key part" of European market infrastructure.

Verena Ross, who is in her second five-year term as executive director of the European Securities and Markets Authority, on October 20 told attendees at a conference in Norway that high-quality data was a "prerequisite" to the risk analysis and supervisory tasks facing both Esma and national regulators.