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20022 is a very powerful, rich, and flexible standard.  We’ll hear about it a thousand times at Sibos this week.  Here’s a little light relief from all that serious stuff. 

On the one hand it is possible to extend the standard through the use of Supplementary Data Components (aka "extensions"). Additional data elements can be added to a message in a formal and structured way.  This construct is designed to support local markets that have very specific requirements not covered by the master global message.  A good example of this are the extensions defined by the DTCC as part of their Corporate Actions Reengineering initiative. 

On the other hand it is possible to restrict the standard through the use of variants.  Once dubbed the "death of standards", variants are emerging as a very practical way to describe market practice for a particular business process.  Variants are a subset of the master message: optional fields can be made mandatory, or they can be knocked out altogether.  Cardinality can be adjusted.  And so on.  Not too many variants have been formally published yet, but there are loads of unofficial ones cropping up in MyStandards and other places. 

How on earth do you get a joke out of all this?? Well here goes. 

What are the odds that someone adds an extension to a variant and ends up with a message that is exactly the same as the original master message?  Geddit? Think about it!

GeekOmeter Test.

1. Side-splittingly funny.  You are a true geek.
2. Very droll.  You appreciate a good geeky joke, but you’re not quite comfortable admitting it in public.
3. You don’t get it but you laugh out loud anyway.  A possible geek wannabe.  That’s ok.  There’s always room for one more on our team.
4. The author needs to get out more.  You’re not a geek.  Never will be.