The service, which takes a global approach and provides exceptional depth of data, can be delivered directly into the client's existing system.

Council Directive 2003/48/EC, commonly known as the European Union Savings Directive (EUSD), is scheduled to be implemented from 1 July 2005 to prevent cross border tax evasion. It intends to capture tax on interest payments made to individual European Union members who reside in another country from where the payment is made. Financial institutions that act as paying agents will need to either report information or withhold tax according to the rules of this new legislation.

FT Interactive Data has conducted extensive research into the impact of the EUSD on the industry, and has met with customers, industry associations, fund managers and potential data suppliers to raise awareness of the information needed to support EUSD tax reporting and withholding requirements.

Helen Cook, FT Interactive Data's European business manager, said: "Fund managers will need data regarding the underlying assets within their funds and the status of these assets in respect of the Directive. They will also need to make sure that information regarding their funds is made available to their clients and prospective clients. FT Interactive Data is therefore providing fund managers with a distribution channel for EUSD data for their funds.

"Paying agents will need information regarding the beneficiaries of savings income in the form of interest payments. They will also require access to information regarding affected securities, including their status in respect of the Directive. Just to complicate matters even further, paying agents and fund administrators in different locations across the affected jurisdictions will also have to allow for differences in the transposition into local law. This means that instruments have the potential to hold a different status in one country to another."

FT Interactive Data plans to make the EUSD data module available from 6 June 2005 and has also been working with software vendors to integrate EUSD data and so help smooth the processing in time for the implementation date. Two service levels are to be offered: the basic service is already available and provides information enabling customers to identify instruments captured by the Directive, whilst the full detail service gives the depth of data needed to help understand the full effect of the Directive on each individual security and withhold tax efficiently across different jurisdictions.