FPL believes that the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada's (IIROC's) decision to adopt this latest version of the FIX Protocol will further encourage growing usage of FIX throughout Canada, and is a prime example of the increasing level of interest by regulators and trading venues in adopting standardized practices globally.

FPL and IIROC worked together to conduct an in-depth gap analysis which indicated that the transition to this latest version of the protocol would require only a small number of enhancements published as an Extension Pack, that will be available immediately, requiring no new messages or tags, resulting in greater ease and speed of implementation.

Over the last six months, FPL personnel have worked closely with exchanges and regulators globally to build a stronger understanding of the benefits the FIX Protocol offers to these parties and have worked in a collaborative manner to evolve the FIX specification to meet their requirements. Today's announcement is a clear example of the benefits of this approach.

Commenting on this development Ryan Pierce, FPL Technical Director stated: "Having worked closely with IIROC to develop the gap analysis I look forward now to witnessing increased adoption of the protocol across Canada. FIX is an open messaging protocol and from a regulator's perspective it offers significant benefits to the user community, proving to be a cost effective solution that provides the flexibility required to adapt quickly and effectively support changing market needs."