FIX Protocol (FPL) has announced that the FIX Algorithmic Trading Definition Language (FIXATDL) entered its final stage of testing – the beta-testing phase. This is in preparation for the language’s release, targeted for late 2007. According to FPL, the new language will deliver support for algorithmic trading, enabling adopters to benefit from a reduction in the deployment effort required to roll out new algorithmic order types.
FPL says that in the testing phase so far, FIXATDL has gained support from 15 major industry participants, including six of the world’s largest broker-dealers. These firms have studied and reviewed the language and each has published samples of their algorithmic trading strategies in the new XML format.
The new language will allow broker-dealers to specify algorithmic order types in an XML format. Buy-side systems will be able to read the XML files and render new order entry screens, which can be customised locally. The final order entry screens include pop-ups, and each order entry field can have behind-the-scenes validation requirements formally expressed. The language also specifies how the parameters that are associated with new algorithmic order types will be formally expressed using standard FIX communication protocols.
“In FIX.4.4 and FIX.5.0 we addressed the issue of how to communicate the parameters of an algorithmic trading strategy in a standard yet flexible way,” says Kevin Houstoun, co-chair, FPL Global Technical Committee and consultant to HSBC. “This complimentary language greatly extends that approach to include the display of those custom parameters and complete validation. This allows sell-side firms, ECNs and exchanges to develop and deploy new algorithms much more quickly than before, and represents an important step towards the industry’s ultimate objective of minimising cost drag on end investors.”