* Swiss Exchange delays fee aimed at third parties
* The firm has called for a debate on reference prices
* The decision comes after pressure from banks
By Luke Jeffs
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Swiss Exchange has delayed a controversial plan to impose a fee on rival trading platforms for use of its data under pressure from its largest clients and the Financial Services Authority.
The Zurich-based exchange group planned to introduce a 100,000 swiss franc ($103,700) annual fee on Nov. 1, but it said this week it has "deferred" the new tariff pending "a wider consultation with market participants and regulators".
"We have had discussions with our customers, including some of the London-based investment banks and we have opted to defer the new fee until this consultation comes to a suitable conclusion, preferably with the endorsement of the relevant regulators," said Werner Buerki, the chief executive of exchange's data unit Exfeed.
Swiss Exchange's largest rival Chi-X Europe said last week it had raised the matter with the FSA and asked whether it could avoid paying the fee.
The UK regulator then looked more closely at the proposal and called for more information on the distribution of pricing data, sources close to the situation said.
Alternative trading platforms, such as Chi-X Europe, use pricing data from exchanges, including the Swiss Exchange, for reference purposes. The Swiss proposal to impose its new fee on rivals angered these firms which said it was an anti-competitive move.
The Swiss exchange said the industry needed to start "an open debate on reference prices." Chi-X Europe, which is owned by the world's largest investment banks, said it is pushing ahead with its plan to stop using Swiss data and use its own prices for reference instead.
Chi-X Europe's chief executive Alasdair Haynes said: "Choice is a very important. Chi-X Europe has always championed choice, competition and lower costs. This is a commercial dispute."
A spokesman for the FSA declined to comment. ($1=.9644 Swiss francs) (Editing by Louise Heavens)