FIX and SWIFT to Pursue Single Industry Standard

Brussels, Belgium. July 5, 2001.

FIX Protocol Ltd. (FPL) and SWIFT today announced an agreement under which the two organizations will seek convergence of their respective messaging protocols. The agreement, which centers on the adoption of ISO 15022 XML as a common industry standard, will, for the first time, provide a tangible link between the front and back office operations of securities institutions. This link will enable the seamless flow of data across the entire transaction chain.

Under the terms of the agreement, FPL and SWIFT will actively support the efforts of the ISO Working Group 10, which aims to evolve the current ISO 15022 scheme for securities message types to a single standard, expressed in XML. The agreement leverages the expertise of FPL in the pre-trade/trade domain and SWIFT in the post-trade domain. Both organizations will work to develop mapping documentation to support the industry's migration to ISO 15022 XML and the coexistence of FIX, ISO 15022 and ISO 15022 XML.

"Achieving interoperability and convergence of standards from the front to back office is an industry prerequisite if higher rates of STP are to be achieved," said Francis Remacle, Head of the Securities Industry Division, SWIFT. "Unless everyone is speaking the same language, communication will be compromised, irrespective of other efforts toward automation."

XML is seen to have a critical role to play in overcoming the communications barriers that exist within the IP environments that the securities industry is now embracing.

"With so many XML initiatives currently underway, there is a real danger that the standard could lead to the sort of divergence or even fragmentation that the industry has for so long battled to curb," said Alan Line, European Co-Chair of the FIX Steering Committee and Director & Head of Trading, Foreign & Colonial Management Ltd. "We believe that ISO 15022 XML will provide the glue between the pre-trade and post-trade domains. Pursuing a single best-of-breed standard is essential for the industry." ISO 15022 XML is expected to be available by early 2002.

About FIX Protocol Ltd.

FIX Protocol Ltd. is a non-profit organization that owns the intellectual property rights of the Financial Information eXchange protocol (FIX), which is provided free in the public domain. FIX is a globally recognized messaging standard that enables the electronic communication of pre-trade and trade messages between financial institutions, primarily investment managers, broker/dealers, ECNs and stock exchanges.

About SWIFT

SWIFT is the industry-owned cooperative supplying secure messaging services and interface software to 7,000 financial institutions in 192 countries. SWIFT carried over 1.2 billion messages in 2000. The average daily value of payment messages on SWIFT is estimated to be above USD 5 trillion. SWIFT provides messaging services to banks, broker/dealers and investment managers, as well as to market infrastructures in payments, treasury, securities and trade. These services help customers reduce costs, improve automation and manage risk. For more information about SWIFT please refer to the website: http://www.swift.com.

Contacts

For more information about this press release please contact the SWIFT press office:

Emily Chamberlain
Makovsky & Co. for SWIFT
Tel: (212) 508-9622
Email: echamberlain@makovsky.com

Miche Slivarich
SWIFT
Tel: +32-2-655-4073
Email: michelle.slivarich@swift.com

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See general references in "ISO 15022 XML."

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