Building upon the functionality delivered by FIX 5.0, which was released in January 2007, the accompanying Service Pack 1 includes 25 Extension Packs which have been developed based on industry requirements and feedback.

FPL recognises the benefits that greater standardisation within the exchanges and liquidity markets will provide to the industry at large. This latest update to the FIX Protocol provides significant enhancements to enable increased standardisation across markets globally, regardless of market structure. The additional functionality includes, but is not limited to:

• A new product reference model for listed Derivatives reference data. This model provides support for listed options, futures and options on futures by reflecting the relationship between the Derivatives and the underlying instruments and the definition of rules for defining Derivatives.
• Support for the trading of listed Interest Rate Swaps and Credit Default Swaps.
• Increased functionality for the communication of Foreign Exchange OTC settlement obligations at both the individual trade and aggregated level.
• Improved support at the exchange level for order driven and quote driven markets.
• Support for order cancels other (OCO) order handling using the list order messages
• A new set of messages for market structure definition that introduce the concept of markets, market segments and market structure rules, such as order matching rules, price increments and quantity rules.
• Advanced support for application level sequencing enabling firms to speed up data re-transmission and improvements within the market data recovery process.
• Improvements to the technique for including XML based product descriptions within both FIX and FIXML, which will benefit market participants that wish to integrate FpML product / deal descriptions in their existing FIX business processes.
• Support for changes to Rule80A, OrderCapacity, and Order Restrictions to reflect the revised NYSE regulations requiring firms to distinguish between algorithmic trading and non-algorithmic program trading.

Simultaneous to the release of FIX 5.0 Service Pack 1, FPL is also proud to announce that an update to the FIXT.1.1 transport and application independent session layer is now available. These improvements provide the user with updates on information security usage, improved guidance for implementers, and errata items based upon industry feedback.

Commenting on this development Kevin Houstoun, Co-Chair FPL Global Technical Committee and Consultant to HSBC stated 'FIX 5.0 Service Pack 1 provides the industry with the support needed to truly implement a standardised business model in the sell-side to market infrastructure space. It does this whilst continuing to add further value in the areas where FIX is the de facto market standard. Additionally, by making this information accessible in a Service Pack format, firms will be able to benefit from ease of implementation, which ultimately reduces the financial and resource investment required to adopt the new functionality.'