[October 19, 2000] RIXML.org is "a consortium of buy-side and sell-side firms that are committed to improving the process of electronic research distribution by creating an open industry standard, 'Research Information Exchange Markup Language (RixML)'. Its mission is to define an open protocol to improve the process of categorizing, aggregating, comparing, sorting, and distributing global financial research. RIXML.org is creating a standard based on industry needs. We are not a distribution service or application vendor, instead, we are creating an open specification that can be freely used by application vendors, research providers and their clients."
[June 21, 2001] In June 2001, the RIXML development teams released a Version 1.0 RIXML specification with W3C XML Schema, examples, and user guide. RIXML Version 1.0 "focuses on the exchange of equity research and is already being used in proof-of-concept trials with research producers and institutional users. These trials will provide additional insight that can be leveraged when RIXML.org focuses on version 2.0 later in 2001. Beginning with version 2.0, RIXML.org will open up the standard to other types of asset classes, such as fixed-income securities and foreign exchange."
"A group of major financial firms announced the formation of RIXML.org, a global industry association of buy-side and sell-side firms whose mission is to develop an open standard for the electronic exchange of investment research. The new specification, to be known as RIXML (Research Information eXchange Markup Language), will be based on XML, the emerging standard for data sharing between applications. RIXML will provide a structure for parsing and classifying investment research in a way that enables recipients to access information in a customizable format through standard sorting and filtering criteria. Once developed through the collaborative efforts of the association's members, the RIXML specification will be made available for use by firms within the financial services industry as well as other interested parties..."
RIXML.org bulletin boards - Discussion groups for: (1) Object Model and Definitions Discussion [for feedback on the RIXML Object Model, Elements and Attributes, and the Definitions specified in the Users Guide]; (2) XML- and Schema-Specific Discussion [for feedback on the technical implementation of the RIXML Schema and its usage]; (3) Technical Examples Discussion [for feedback on the Use-Case Examples -- instance documents and process documents.]; (4) General Discussion [for providing feedback and asking general questions on topics not covered in the discussions listed above.]
References:
[June 20, 2002] "RIXML Version 2.0 Now Available for Public Comment. RIXML.org Adds New Associate Members, Elects New Co-chairs."
[May 12, 2003] "Reuters Joins RIXML.org's Efforts to Facilitate the Adoption and Implementation of its Standard for Investment Research. RIXML.org Appoints New Committee Co-Chairs. Industry Organization Establishes Adoption Committee to Help Firms Utilize RIXML." - "RIXML.org, a consortium of buy- and sell-side global market leaders committed to the development and implementation of the first open standard for investment research, announced today the addition of Reuters as an Associate Member, which brings the total number of Associate Members to six. RIXML.org currently has 17 Steering Committee members, who oversee the strategy and overall direction of the RIXML specification... RIXML.org's Associate Membership category was established in April 2001 as a way to engage all industry participants in the development and implementation of the RIXML standard. As Associate Members, organizations can get involved in the continued development and implementation of the standard as well as participate as members of the Standards and Technical Committees of the RIXML organization... 'The newly elected committee members exemplify the dedication and expertise needed to continue the growth and expansion of RIXML.org,' said Deirdre Goldenbogen from Putnam Investments and Buy-Side Co-Chair of the RIXML.org Steering Committee. 'As a result of the commitment from our committee co-chairs and members, we have established the expertise necessary to enhance the specification as needed and work directly with firms to facilitate the adoption and implementation of RIXML across the globe'... As part of RIXML.org's efforts to increase the adoption of the RIXML standard, a new Adoption Committee has been formed at the Steering Committee level. The Adoption Committee is being co-chaired by Ellen Callahan of Fidelity Investments and Colette Linzmeyer of Deutsche Bank. The committee will work closely with Associate Members on adoption issues as they move forward on implementation of the standard. The committee will also focus on increasing awareness and adoption of the RIXML specification, as well as provide an open forum for both Steering Committee and Associate Members to discuss RIXML issues and share information... RIXML.org is a consortium of buy- and sell-side global market leaders who joined forces to develop an open, global standard for the tagging and delivery of investment research..."
[December 24, 2002] "Challenges and Solutions for Leveraging RIXML. Application of XAware Technology." XAware White Paper. December 17, 2002. 10 pages. Contact: Jojy Mathew (VP, Strategic Development & Product Strategy, XAware, Inc). "As technology flourishes, information overload at buy- and sell-side financial services firms has reached critical levels. Without a standard to classify, sort, filter, manage, and distribute available research data, investment firms cannot operate effectively. RIXML (Research Information Exchange Markup Language) was developed to enable firms to access and use the information they need on a daily basis, to assist their decision-making process, act upon market fluctuations, implement corporate strategies, and communicate with internal and external clients. Wide-scale industry adoption and implementation of the RIXML classification methodology and specification is critical to future success of the standard. Moreover, success is contingent upon firms' ability to rapidly incorporate the classification methodology (e.g., enable their systems to work within the RIXML classifications and effectively 'read' RIXML-tagged external research data), and apply the appropriate tagging to their own internally generated content. By implementing RIXML, firms will benefit from increased efficiency of research distribution, more effective targeting, personalization, and overall usability. XAware has developed integration components which financial services firms, system integrators, and software vendors can leverage to manage and integrate data and technology from multiple vendors. The XAware solution enables common information models leveraging XMLbased standards for interoperability, and is an engine for compliance with the RIXML standard. XAware's ready-to-integrate software components can expedite the implementation of RIXML. XAware's components incorporate a 'building block' approach, enabling firms to rapidly connect to financial services firms' existing framework, and subsequently integrate more and more data into the RIXML standard. XAware's components are designed to play a central role in RIXML implementation, an object-oriented, messaging interface that links distributed management applications..." [cache]
[December 23, 2002] "XAware Announces RIXML Components for Financial Services Integration. Integration Building Blocks Enable Financial Services Firms, System Integrators and Software Vendors to Rapidly Adopt RIXML." - "XAware, Inc., a leader in XML-based information exchange and data integration, announces the availability of a suite of software components to help system integrators, corporate IT groups and software vendors implement RIXML for financial services applications. First launched in April 2001, RIXML (Research Information Exchange Markup Language) is an industry-standard dialect of XML that enables the assimilation and distribution of research information. The benefits of RIXML include increased efficiency of research distribution, more effective targeting, personalization and overall usability. XAware's RIXML Components are targeted to financial services firms such as brokerage houses, asset management companies, mutual fund managers and securities houses. XAware's 'building block' approach allows firms to rapidly connect within an existing framework, manage and integrate data and technology from multiple vendors, and progressively incorporate more data into the RIXML standard. The XAware solution enables common information models leveraging XML-based standards for interoperability, and is an engine for compliance with the RIXML standard. 'After successfully completing a RIXML integration project with OppenheimerFunds, XAware is leveraging this experience by packaging a set of RIXML-based integration components,' said Bill Miller, chief executive officer of XAware. 'These new building blocks reduce the complexities of adopting the RIXML standard, while allowing companies to migrate research data over time with an immediate ROI'..."
[August 15, 2002] "Researchsummary and Bear Stearns Join Forces to Pioneer RIXML Version 2.0." - "In a move that will help the firm accelerate its marketing of RIXML (Research Information Exchange Markup Language) based investment research, Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today that it had entered into an arrangement with researchsummary.com Limited to promote the adoption of RIXML version 2.0. RIXML is an XML-based (Extensible Markup Language) open standard to improve the process of categorizing, aggregating, comparing, sorting and distributing global financial and investment research. Version 2.0 has just been published and expands its original equity research focus to include corporate fixed-income research and adds an events group and calendar. The deal will see Bear Stearns employing researchsummary's proprietary RIXML-based NavigateDepth software to tag its entire research production flow, without the need to change its research creation systems. Bear Stearns will also contribute its PDF and RIXML-enabled research to the researchsummary.com portal, joining other existing investment banks already contributing. The growing list of international investment banks, whose research is provided on the researchsummary portal, now includes Bear Stearns, ABN Amro, ING Financial Markets, HSBC, Credit Lyonnais, WestLB Panmure and MTS Research... RIXML uses XML to tag any piece of research content, in any form or media, with enough meta-data information for the consumer to search, sort and filter through publisher research and quickly provide highly relevant information to their decision makers. The creation of RIXML as a common language provides a low-cost way to vastly improve the value of broker investment research... Developed by the buy- and sell-side global market leaders that make up RIXML.org, RIXML (Research Information eXchange Markup Language) is an open standard for the electronic exchange of investment research. The RIXML standard will provide a structure for classifying research in a way that will enable consumers of research to define specific sorting, filtering, and personalization criteria across all research publishers..."
RIXML XML Schema. RIXML Specification Version 1.0, June 20, 2001. [cache]
RIXML examples. "The example files show specific examples of how RIXML can be used to publish research documents. Each sample is comprised of an XML instance document, tagged according to the RIXML specification, and an explanation of the process the publisher used to create that XML..." Examples available 2001-08 included: (1) Company Report: "The report used for this illustration is a mock-up of a standard Credit Suisse First Boston Equity Research company report. The fictitious company Oklahoma Energy is covered by analysts Smith, Jones and Fields from the Houston office and published by the main US office in New York. They have recommended a Buy and provided some analytics to support this with discussion of future earnings." [cache .xml] (2) Industry Comment: "This product is a Merrill Lynch research comment published to inform institutional investors of the current developments in the Internet / e-Commerce Industry." [cache .xml] (3) Morning Call Summary: "This is a Product made up of items from a Morgan Stanley Morning Meeting call. It covers Strategy, Economics, Industry and Company items, therefore the ProductFocus was set at the Discipline level as this is a cross-discipline publication." [cache .xml] (4) Streaming Media Morning Call: "This Product is a RIXML mock-up of a Goldman Sachs Morning Call. It contains both a video and audio summary of the morning call notes." [cache .xml]
[June 20, 2001] "RIXML Specification Users Guide and Data Dictionary Report." June 20, 2001. 76 pages. Corresponds to the draft 1.0 specification. "RIXML.org is a consortium of buy- and sell-side financial services firms that are committed to improving the process of electronic research distribution by creating an open industry standard. The goal of RIXML.org is to define an open protocol that will improve the process of categorizing, aggregating, comparing, sorting, searching, and distributing global financial research. The primary objective of the initial release of the RIXML specification is to provide extensive capabilities for tagging any piece of financial research content, in any form or media, with sufficient metadata information to allow research users to search, sort, and filter the published research and to provide highly relevant information to decision-makers. A solution for 'componentizing' research content has been proposed for a future release of the specification. The purpose of this guide is to outline the approach taken by RIXML.org in creating the RIXML standard and, by explaining some fundamental concepts, such as XML, object modeling, and schemas, to help readers understand the standard. In addition, the RIXML schema is described, including all attributes and elements and, where applicable, guidelines for using them." [cache]
[June 21, 2001] "Formal RIXML Specification Version 1.0 to Be Released This Week. Robertson Stephens and Bear Stearns join RIXML Steering Committee. Strong Response to New Associate Membership Category." - "RIXML.org (Research Information Exchange Markup Language) announced today that the final version 1.0 of the RIXML specification will be released this week, completing a successful public comment period during which numerous comments and suggestions from research and technology professionals were received and incorporated into the specification. In addition, two more leading securities firms, Robertson Stephens and Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., have joined RIXML.org as Steering Committee members, bringing the total number of participating buy- and sell-side member firms to 17. RIXML.org's newly created Associate Membership category is off to a great start with eight firms already officially on board. Joining RIXML.org as Associate Members are: Blue Matrix Inc., CCBN.com, Multex.com, ResearchSummary.com, TheMarkets.com, Thomson Financial/First Call, Voicemate.com, and WorldStreet Corporation. The strong response to the new membership category, created in April, offers further proof of broad acceptance of RIXML as the industry standard for the electronic exchange of investment research... The Associate Membership category enables additional buy-side and sell-side firms as well as third party service providers, consulting firms, and technology providers to participate in the Standards and Technical Committees of the organization... According to David Eisner, Chief Executive Officer of TheMarkets.com, 'RIXML has laid the foundation to transform the life of fund managers and analysts using financial research and we look forward to the rapid adoption of the RIXML standard by the industry. The new associate membership category is a great way for TheMarkets.com and other service providers to be actively involved in the evolution of the RIXML standard.'...RIXML.org is a consortium of buy- and sell-side financial industry leaders who joined forces to develop an open, global standard for the tagging and delivery of investment research. The RIXML standard provides a structure for classifying research in a way that will enable consumers of research to define specific sorting, filtering, and personalization criteria across all research publishers. RIXML enables sell-side research publishers to tag any piece of research content, in any media format, with enough information for buy-side firms to create customized filters, thereby reducing information overload. In addition, the advanced level of tagging and access to individual research elements allows for a new generation of alerting mechanisms, enhanced user interfaces, and delivery to mobile devices... RIXML Version 1.0 focuses on the exchange of equity research and is already being used in proof-of-concept trials with research producers and institutional users. These trials will provide additional insight that can be leveraged when RIXML.org focuses on version 2.0 later this year. Beginning with version 2.0, RIXML.org will open up the standard to other types of asset classes, such as fixed-income securities and foreign exchange. In an effort to raise awareness and share some of the ways that the RIXML standard can be used and implemented, representatives from RIXML.org will be participating at a wide variety of industry conferences over the next year... In order to manage future development of the specification and to accommodate future organizational growth, RIXML.org also announced [several new] committee appointments..."
Announcement 2001-03-26: "RIXML Specification Version 1.0 Released for Public Comment. A Commitment to Facilitate Investment Research Distribution Becomes a Reality." [source]
RIXML XML Schema (.xsd) RIXML Specification March 23, 2001 or later. targetNamespace="http://www.rixml.org".
RIXML Draft Specification Version 1.0. RIXML Specification Users Guide and Data Dictionary Report. Draft Documentation for Public Comment. 64 pages. "The purpose of this guide is to outline the approach taken by RIXML.org in creating the RIXML standard and, by explaining some fundamental concepts, such as XML, object modeling, and schemas, to help readers understand the standard. In addition, the RIXML schema is described, including all attributes and elements and, where applicable, guidelines for using them. The primary objective of the initial release of the RIXML specification is to provide extensive capabilities for tagging any piece of financial research content, in any form or media, with sufficient metadata information to allow research users to search, sort, and filter the published research, and to provide highly relevant information to decision-makers. A solution for 'componentizing' research content has been proposed for a future release of the specification."
[April 03, 2001] "Wall Street Releases Draft XML Standard. Brokerage group invites public comment." By Maria Trombly. In ComputerWorld (April 02, 2001). "The RIXML.org Ltd. standards committee, a consortium of brokerage firms that's committed to creating a standard computer language for presenting investment and financial research, last week released a draft version of Research Information Exchange Markup Language (RIXML) 1.0 for public comment. The need for a standard approach to investment reports is critical on Wall Street because brokerages produce some 2,000 notes and reports daily, said sell-side co-chairman Christopher Betz, vice president for the institutional equity division at New York-based Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co... The new voluntary, open standard is designed to let the authors of these reports tag the content with four major types of information, Betz said. This includes source information such as publisher, analyst and research team; content information that describes whether the content is a Web address, an HTML file or an Adobe Acrobat file; legal material such as disclosures, disclaimers, trademarks and copyrights; and context information that describes what the report is about - a country, an industry or a specific sector such as semiconductors..."
Announcement: "Financial Industry Leaders Join Forces to Develop a Global Standard for Investment Research." [source]
Contact: ContactUs@rixml.org
TheMarkets.com "is an Internet-based global financial information portal providing institutional investors a single-source destination for access to real-time commingled equity research, new issue information, news, and market data, as well as easy direct-access to the proprietary web-sites of the participants. It is scheduled to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2000. TheMarkets.com will adopt the standard and actively contribute to defining and evolving the RIXML standard."
[December 28, 2000] "Research Standards Buy- and Sell-Side Firms Come Together Around RIXML." By Anthony Guerra. In WebTech Wall Steet and Technology (WST) (December 14, 2000). "Representatives from buy- and sell-side firms have formed RIXML.org (research information exchange markup language) in order to establish that protocol-in-the-making as the standard for describing all types of financial research and analysis. By agreeing on one protocol to describe such information, which comes in many different forms including Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and audio and video files, financial institutions are trying to create stores of research data described by a uniform protocol. Once that is achieved, research from all sources -- whether internal or from various financial institutions -- can be aggregated, co-mingled, filtered and searched. 'Ultimately, this will make the investment banks' research more valuable because right now a great piece we put out may get lost in the clutter -- the noise and confusion that our customers are cluttered with,' says Joseph Sommer, director of U.S. electronic trading and connectivity services with Credit Suisse First Boston and sell-side co-chair of the RIXML.org steering committee. 'If we can help sort out that clutter and we have quality content, it should stand out, so it's worth the effort.' Currently, buy-side institutions are bombarded with thousands of pieces of information from sell-side firms, communicated in dozens of different protocols. That means searches through such a body of data are highly inefficient and often fruitless. David Seibert, vice president of investment systems with T. Rowe Price and buy-side steering committee co-chair of RIXML.org, says that the formation of the group, which will be limited to 10 buy- and 10 sell-side institutions, was initiated by T. Rowe Price because of frustration it felt when attempting to co-mingle research from various sources. To really become involved, firms interested in participating in RIXML.org can contact the group using information provided on their Web site. Sommer says firms can join RIXML.org to become more involved and help fund the effort. Dues for a buy-side firm are $20,000, a sell-side firm $110,000. 'We didn't want to have buy-side firms that were able to devote people and could contribute to the protocol but decided not to because of the up-front costs,' he says, 'so the sell-side is in a sense subsidizing the work.' He further explains the dues by noting that it took a while for FIX to get off the ground because it was not a funded effort. The group will be working to develop a beta version of RIXML in January, which will be released to the public. A 30-day comment period will follow when the group will look at submitted concerns and suggestions, acting on those they deem legitimate. After the comment period, a recommendation will be released that will essentially constitute version 1.0 of the specification, according to Chris Betz, vice president of the institutional equity division at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and sell-side co-chair of RIXML.org."
[November 02, 2000] "XML Gains Momentum in Financial Services Industry. Standards continue to proliferate." By Maria Trombly. In ComputerWorld (October 30, 2000). "Yet another XML-based standard has been added to the library of protocols being developed for financial services. Research Information Exchange Markup Language (RIXML) promises to make it easier for investors to share data about companies. A draft of the specification is expected within the next four months. RIXML is backed by a number of industry powerhouses, meaning it will be an open standard rather than one that draws upon a particular vendor's technology. RIXML's supporters include Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and PaineWebber Inc. "We would expect people to be doing pilots in the first half of next year," said RIXML steering committee co-chairman Joseph Sommer, who is also director of U.S. electronic trading and connectivity services at Jersey City, N.J.-based DLJdirect Inc. A comment period will follow the draft release. Sharing Research RIXML would allow companies to share data by ensuring that their research reports all use the same electronic format so they can be easily published on the Web, on wireless devices or in paper formats. RIXML is the latest of a large number of XML-based standards that promises to revolutionize the way Wall Street firms and investors make trades and exchange information. RIXML is a research-oriented standard. Other standards, such as Financial Information Exchange Markup Language, deal with processing trades. RIXML steering committee members said they don't think other upcoming information technology initiatives, such as the switch to next-day processing of trades (T+1) from the current third-day standard and the decimalization of stock prices, will hinder RIXML implementation..."
[November 20, 2000] "First Call Supports Launch Of RIXML.org As It Brings Industry Closer to an XML Standard for Investment Research." - "First Call Corp., a Thomson Financial company, supports the work that is currently underway to develop Research Information eXchange Markup Language (RIXML), announced on October 18, 2000. First Call is committed to working collaboratively with industry participants to create a public standard for investment research. The formation of RIXML.org -- a global industry association of buy- and sell-side firms whose mission is to develop an open standard for the electronic exchange of investment research -- represents a significant step in realizing this objective. In June, First Call made a draft Document Type Definition (DTD) available free of charge via its institutional Web portal. The DTD was intended to facilitate industry dialogue and the creation of a more complete specification. An XML-based information standard will provide for a more efficient and customized flow of information among market participants, including the brokerage and asset management communities served by First Call. 'With this endorsement of RIXML, First Call has demonstrated its commitment to supporting a broad and public effort to create an XML-based standard,' said David Seibert, Vice President, Investment Systems at T. Rowe Price and Buy-Side Co-Chair of the RIXML.org Steering Committee. 'Vendors and service providers are expected to play an important role in the evolution and implementation of RIXML, and we look forward to First Call's involvement in this important industry initiative.' A broadly accepted XML standard will ensure that the independent components of a research document are structured and identified in a consistent manner across all organizations. This consistency will facilitate the exchange and customization of information, as the components may be parsed and repackaged to meet each recipient's distinct requirements. XML-formatted documents can also be converted to the formats specified by recipients and delivered seamlessly over a variety of platforms, including the Web and wireless devices. First Call Corp. is the global financial community's leading Internet provider of real-time broker-sourced research, earnings estimates, equity and fixed income ownership information, insider trading information, and corporate news releases. More than 6,000,000 research documents are available on the FIRST CALL Network. First Call's distribution capabilities, research services, competitive intelligence product, usage reports and customized business solutions provide value-added links between the institutional buy-side and the sell-side worldwide."
