FIX Trading Community, the non-profit, industry-driven standards body at the heart of global financial trading, today announced the creation of a set of recommended Best Practices for the use of FIX for the exchange of pre-trade information in the bond markets. The Global Fixed Income Subcommittee are currently reviewing the draft and expect the final release of this document to be ready towards the end of 2014.
Initially formulated by a group of banks and asset managers and facilitated by Etrading Software Ltd. under the name Project Neptune, the initial idea was to drive standardisation and thus adoption which could facilitate more efficient dissemination of pre-trade information between market participants.
By adopting FIX as the messaging protocol to enable the flow of information between the different market participants, all parties involved have assurance that they are using the protocol that has become a standard within the capital markets. FIX Protocol is used by thousands of firms every day to complete millions of transactions, enabling the industry to minimise the cost of trading, maximise operational efficiencies and achieve increased transparency.
“The use of FIX for trading fixed income products is already well-established,” said Sassan Danesh, Managing Partner, Etrading Software, Co-Chair, Global Fixed Income Subcommittee. “I am delighted that the industry is now ready to extend the benefits of FIX standardisation to pre-trade information flows.”
Among the banks and asset managers supporting this initiative are: BNP Paribas, BofA Merrill Lynch, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Societe Generale, UBS, Aberdeen AM, Aviva Investors, AXA IM, Deutsche AWM, Henderson Global Investors, Investec AM, Kames Capital, Nordea IM, Pictet AM, Pioneer Investments, Schroders, State Street Global Advisors, Standard Life Investments.
“Societe Generale are pleased to have been involved with Project Neptune from the outset and believe that the co-operation between market participants in the bond market will have a positive impact going forward,” commented Stephane Malrait, Managing Director Global Head of FIC eCommerce.
The FIX Trading Community works in a collaborative manner and is delighted that the Project Neptune initiative has worked in a similar manner to address and take the first steps in efficiently disseminating the pre-trade information between market participants.