The new service, dubbed Propis, will be launched in the first quarter of 2005. Deutsche Börse says the reference data will originate directly from its own settlement and custody systems and will be distributed to banks by third party information providers.

Commenting on the Propis service, Holger Wohlenberg, MD, information services, Deutsche Börse, says: "Our customers will benefit from high-quality data, which will allow them to both reduce erroneous transactions that result from inconsistencies in the settlement process, and to structure clearing and settlement more efficiently."

Wohlenberg says the launch of new service means that, in the future, Deutsche Börse will be offering capital market information for the entire securities trading value chain - from trading data, regulatory information, through to reference data.

The service will be introduced in two stages - from February 2005 Deutsche Börse will begin supplying information providers with reference data on German securities on a daily basis via the file transfer protocol (FTP). The second stage involves expanding the data provision to include Luxembourg securities as well as international bonds.

The Börse recently introduced changes to its CEF data feed which now features increased data capacity and complete Eurex price chronology.

At the same time, the London Stock Exchange has also announced plans to beef up its information services business with the launch of a new Market Reports Service, which will provide UK listed companies with daily updates on share price performance, news and trading activity, share ownership data and broker forecasts.

The LSE's service enables companies to design their own customised reports based on share price performance - including intraday open, high, low and closing prices and five years' historic closing prices, - news and trading activity analysis, share ownership data and broker forecasts.