Vol 7 No 16
CONNECTIVITY
FPL Names FIX4.4 Certifiers, Signs Up Brook Path
NEW YORK--Aegis Software, B2Bits, Javelin Technologies and TransactTools have gotten the blessing of the FIX Protocol Ltd. (FPL) to administer the FPL’s forthcoming FIX certification program.
The program to come, which promotes the use of the FIX trading connectivity protocol, will include new certifications for the fixed-income trading supported in FIX, version 4.4.
FPL officials have also signed up the Brook Path Partners consultancy to help with the FPL’s scripting of the fixed-income certification tests that will be a key component of the updated certification program. Brook Path focuses its technology training and research on all phases of the investment and trading life cycle, including settlement, clearing, corporate actions and event processing, officials say. Brook Path officials have contributed to the FIX, FpML and ISO 15022 XML standards organizations.
"Each vendor is responsible for their own implementation," explains Norm Friedman, a vice president with Aegis. "Vendors are required to cross-certify. The FPL may resolve issues between vendors, but otherwise should not be involved in daily administration of the program."
The specifications for certification will ultimately include session layer testing for FIX version 4.0 through 4.4. The certification program, slated for a pilot period between three to six months, will also require the collection of industry feedback about the certification program and FIX test scripts.
Friedman says that the acceptance of FIX for fixed-income trading may take a while to catch on. "Remember, you need to have or be building a fixed-income OMS that actually utilizes FIX before this can be useful," he says. "The fact that FIX is relatively new to fixed income is both a hindrance and an opportunity. It’s a hindrance because there’s not a lot of widespread knowledge of how it should work. But it’s also an opportunity to set a standard before a lot of implementations are frozen in place. When trying to set standards, earlier is better than later."
The FPL has embarked on this initiative in order to streamline and cut the costs associated with FIX deployments, FPL officials say. The certification is also intended to improve the quality of FIX implementations, as well as ease the process of building sell-side-to-buy-side connectivity.
Eugene Grygo
