FIX Certification Program

As more and more market participants implement FIX for trading fixed income securities, ensuring a standardized connection and information flow becomes vital. Because the FIX Protocol is a free and open standard, firms want to be confident that when they utilize certain tags and message forms that their current and future counterparties will be using FIX in the same way.

The FIX Certification Program was formed to create a benchmark for market participants to verify their use of FIX. It serves as an FPL-sanctioned reference implementation that will reduce the amount of time and effort associated with connecting to trading partners who have also certified their systems via the program. This will ultimately improve the quality and consistency of FIX Protocol usage. Although participation is not mandatory for firms using FIX to communicate trade information, completing the FIX Certification Program ensures that a firm has met the highest standard of FIX usage and demonstrates that a firm has sufficient knowledge and expertise in utilizing FIX.

Under the leadership of the Global Fixed Income Committee, the Certification Working Group was formed in 2003 to develop an FPL-sanctioned Certification Program for fixed income. Because FIX version 4.4 is the industry standard for fixed income the FIX Certification Program is focused on verifying this version of the Protocol.

The Certification Working Group developed a series of test scripts that covered pre-trade, trade, and post-trade scenarios for US Treasury, Corporate and Agency products. These test scripts contain message formats and flows, and are the basis of the FIX Certification Program. The test scripts and specifications can be found here.

The FIX Certification Program is now in operation and the four firms listed below are FIX Certification Agent firms.  To participate in the program and certify you firm's FIX  message content and flow you may work with any of them.  They each offer a slightly different approach and method to delivering the tools used for certification, but they all move you to the same result: verified FIX messaging.

	Aegis Software Inc. FPL
	B2BITS FPL
	FIXML Flyer FPL
	NYFIX, Inc. FPL Premier
	Tepin Information FPL
	TransactTools Inc. FPL

RESOURCES:

•  FIX CERTIFICATION FAQS:

>>> What fixed income products are covered?

US Treasury, Agency and Corporate products are included for pre-trade, trade, and post-trade processing.

>>> Why should I certify?

Certifying your fixed income trading applications will reduce the overall time and effort associated with connecting to your trading partners. By offering a reference implementation early in the adoption process of FIX for fixed income trading, FPL is trying to limit deviations from standard FIX behavior and “one off” implementations. Not only will this allow for your firm to get connected to trading partners quicker and more efficiently, but it will ensure a higher degree of quality and consistency.

>>> When in my FIX implementation process should I certify?

The session layer can be certified during the implementation of the FIX engine since it deals with administrative functions only. The application layer deals with the business related messages and therefore should be tested in conjunction with the development of the trading application/system.

>>> If my FIX engine vendor is certified then am I certified?

No. FIX engines can be configured to operate in different manners based on the flexibility of their architecture, and the behavior of the trading application they are integrated with. Each implementation of a trading applications and the FIX engine it is integrated with should be certified.

>>> If my order management system is verified then am I certified?

Yes, as long as the version of the OMS your firm is using is the one that was certified.

>>> If my counterparties are certified is it easier for me to be certified?

If you are using FIX to trade with certified counterparties, then your implementation is most likely in-line with the requirements of the FIX Certification Program, and completing the program should be a simple exercise. However, you should verify your compliance by completing the program.

>>> How much time should it take my firm to be certified?

The process of completing all of the tests shouldn't take more than a few days, but the overall process of achieving certification will vary from application to application. The answer will ultimately depend on the amount and complexity of changes that must be made to the application being certified in order to conform to the test scripts developed by FPL.

>>> How much does it cost?

Participation in the FIX Certification Program is free for all FPL-member firms. Some vendors have also made the service free of charge for non-member firms.

>>> Does my certification expire?

No. Additional asset classes and scenarios may be added in the future, and the program updated with additional releases of the FIX Protocol, but once certified for the scenarios included under FIX 4.4, the process is complete.

 

•  LIST OF FIRMS WHO HAVE COMPLETED THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR FIXED INCOME

•  INTERVIEWS WITH THE FIX CERTIFICATION AGENT FIRMS:

-  TransactTools

-  B2Bits

-  Aegis Software – to be published November 2005

-  NYFIX – to be published December 2005

•  DISCUSSION FORUM FOR CERTIFICATION ISSUES