At a time when global exchanges are snapping up over-the-counter (OTC) securities and derivatives marketplaces that have traditionally been the domain of brokerage firms, industry observers say (and not always in a good way) that brokers are conversely becoming more like exchange operators—not necessarily in terms of the markets or instruments they trade, but rather in their approach to licensing the market data generated from their broking operations.

Some of this is not a bad thing: Many