Why did market data management become a discipline within financial institutions?

• A. Real-time market data delivery was already widespread before 1980
• B. It arose mainly due to ETFs' growth
• C. Real-time delivery did not happen on any appreciable scale before 1980, necessitating dedicated management after
• D. It was mandated by regulation in the 1990s

Answer: (C)

Real-time market data didn’t exist at scale before 1980. Once electronic feeds and data vendors began delivering real-time information, financial institutions suddenly faced vast volumes of data that had to be collected, cleansed, normalized, and delivered reliably across many systems and desks. This created a need for a dedicated function to govern data quality, establish standards and metadata, manage reference data, and maintain robust delivery pipelines. Without this focus, data would be inconsistent, late, or incompatible with trading and risk systems, undermining decision-making. ETFs and later regulatory requirements increased attention to data governance, but the driving force behind forming market data management was the move to real-time data at scale after 1980.