By the end of the second quarter of 2004, ISE's pilot program will connect participating members to the exchange's trading system through the Securities Industry Automation Corporation's (SIAC) Secure Financial Transaction InfrastructureSM (SFTISM), a financial industry communications network. This means that an ISE member located in Chicago, or Boston, for example, need only connect to the local SFTI access center to use ISE's trading system. ISE members currently connect to the exchange using proprietary dedicated circuits such as T-1 or T-3 lines, through a telecommunications carrier, a managed service provider or a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The SFTI network maintains access centers in major financial centers around the nation. These access centers form a secure, high-speed grid, enabling financial services firms to locally connect to SFTI. While this local connectivity will save some firms money, it also will enable them to more quickly connect to ISE. Once the firm's data reaches the access centers, SFTI will carry the data communications traffic to ISE via geographically dispersed fiber routes. To satisfy business continuity concerns, SFTI's equipment, connections, power supplies, and network links are fully redundant.
As part of the SFTI network, ISE members can leverage SFTI's Content Service Provider (CSP) services and "customize" their connections. For example, an ISE member with SFTI connectivity will be able to increase or decrease bandwidth quickly and easily and only pay for the capacity needed. Additionally, this can be accomplished without the time and expense of having to order more telecommunications circuits.
"ISE is pleased to be the first exchange to offer its members connectivity through the SFTI CSP offering," said Daniel Friel, ISE's Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "SFTI CSP is a major advancement in telecommunications for the financial industry." All ISE members will be able to participate in SFTI by the fourth quarter of 2004.
