FISD Online Update

March 2002

Table of Contents

1. MDDL Enters the Debt Domain (Bonds)
2. MDDL Terminology to be Integrated into ISO 15022 Data Dictionary
3. Extending SIIA’s Anti-Piracy Activities to Financial Information
4. For Sale: FISD’s Market Data Policy Database
5. Billing and Reporting Automation Moves Forward
6. Mutual Fund Symbology Conflicts
7. ANNA Service Bureau Licensing Agreement for ISIN
8. FISD Enters the Business Entity Identifier Discussion
9. FISD Analysis of the SEC Market Data Advisory Committee Final Report
10. Upcoming Events

MDDL Enters the Debt Domain (Bonds)

FISD members are extending the Market Data Definition Language (MDDL) initiative to fixed income/debt instruments. A working meeting was held on February 13 at Reuters in London. Most of the discussion focused on the process for defining the vocabulary structure for bonds. FISD is coordinating its efforts in this domain with the activities of the Bond Market Association’s Securities Master Database Task Force.

February 13 Meeting Report

MDDL Terminology to be Integrated into 15022 Data Dictionary

FISD and SWIFT have agreed in principle to combine MDDL into the 15022 data dictionary. The idea is to create a single repository of market data and transactions related terms. We believe that 15022 is the right mechanism for this repository and provides a workable vehicle for normalizing market data terminology.

Extending SIIA’s Anti-Piracy Activities to Financial Information

On the request of a number of FISD members, SIIA is hosting a meeting to explore the potential of extending its very successful software anti-piracy program to financial information services. The meeting will take place on March 25 at McGraw-Hill in NYC. The issue under exploration is whether SIIA’s processes and resources can be leveraged to help reduce unlicensed redistribution and promote compliance with market data contractual obligations.

For Sale: FISD’s Market Data Policy Database

FISD’s Executive Committee has decided that the Association should no longer be the repository of exchange contracts, fee schedules and policy interpretations - and has terminated additional funding of the Market Data Policy Database. The Executive Committee strongly supports the continuation of discussions on redistribution, unit of count and market data usage issues, but concludes that the investment in maintenance of the database is not required to meet this objective. FISD is exploring options associated with the sale of the intellectual property. For more information, please contact Michael Atkin at +202.789.4450.

Billing and Reporting Automation Moves Forward

The buzz over the potential of billing and reporting improvements continues to grow. Meetings have been well attended and lots of ideas are emerging. At a minimum, the three broad standards activities (product identification, customer identification and billing data elements) have been debated and validated as the infrastructure for billing automation. FISD is in the process of drafting our recommendation to the Executive Committee on the path forward. Our report is due by March 21.

FISD Article for Banking Technology Solutions

Background Memo for February 14 Meeting

Mutual Fund Symbology Conflicts

Market data vendors and Nasdaq met this past month to discuss problems that result from discrepancies in fund family names/descriptions between the funds, Nasdaq Daily List and CUSIP. The essence of the problem is that vendors manage fund data (for security set up) based on CUSIP while information from Nasdaq is organized by symbol/description. The difference results in a manual and error-prone process to match the CUSIP against the descriptive data in the Nasdaq daily list. A number of short-term and longer-term options were outlined and are being pursued.

February 22 Meeting Report

ANNA Service Bureau Licensing Agreement for ISIN

FISD has been working with the ANNA Service Bureau (ASB) on the development of a modular data license agreement that incorporates the commercial requirements of the National Numbering Agencies, addresses the licensing requirements of new and existing redistributors, accomplishes the objectives of administrative simplification and can be extended to Numbering Agencies requiring a license agreement in the future. The discussions between FISD and the ASB have been productive. A draft agreement was submitted to the ASB on February 28. For more information, please contact Michael Atkin at +202.789.4450.

FISD Enters the Business Entity Identifier Discussion

Over the past few months, FISD members have been involved in a whole series of discussions associated with the automation requirements of T+1 and STP. The essence of the security identification issue is twofold. First, financial institutions buy and sell a variety of instruments that can be issued, priced traded and settled in many ways. The problem is the international standard identifier (ISIN) is not sufficient for the requirements of automated cross-border security identification. FISD has been working with the industry to define the requirements for unique instrument identification and has made significant progress toward a workable solution.

Second, financial institutions interact with a variety of “entities” associated with trading, settlement and account management. Identifiers for these entities are needed for counterparty identification. The problem is that international standards for some of these entities are not available. Our members have asked us to define the requirements for entity identification and to help facilitate the discussion moving forward.

Summary of security identification issue

FISD Analysis of the SEC Market Data Advisory Committee Final Report

Upcoming Events