FISD to Begin Research on Industry Certification:  Over the course of 2007, FISD and its members explored the creation of a certification facility for industry executives. At the heart of these discussions was the idea that it might be beneficial for both employees and employers if there was a more structured approach to recognizing the achievements, skills and knowledge of financial information industry professionals. There was general agreement that FISD might play the role as the central body for operating such a certification process. As the next step in its analysis, FISD has hired David Anderson of Atradia Consulting to conduct a formal research activity on the desirability and feasibility of this sort of role for FISD. Over the next several weeks, FISD and David will be administering an online survey with a wide and diverse group of industry professionals. If you have any questions, or are interested in participating in the survey, please contact Tom Davin or David Anderson.

Pac Rim Consumer Groups:  April Meeting Schedule: The new Asia and Australia Consumer Constituent Groups are now established and committed to regular meetings. These groups are a venue for market data consumers (i.e., banks, brokerages, and buy-side firms) to come together to discuss issues of common interest. The Asia Group met in Singapore on February 14 and will meet next in Tokyo on April 24. The Australia group met in Sydney on March 5 and will have its next meeting in Sydney on April 29. These group are open to any FISD member from the Consumer Constituency. Please contact Tom Davin if you are interested in participating or have any questions.

Market/Reference Data Training Courses: New locations/dates added.  Don’t overlook the most critical resource you can provide yourself or your staff: industry training!  Visit http://www.fisd.net/schedules/md_training.asp

Join a Working Group: In our role as a neutral industry forum, FISD creates and supports working groups that work toward consensus. We encourage all members to engage in the working group opportunities where it supports/advances their agenda.  For many meetings, you may participate in person (NYC or London depending on the month) or via conference call. Agendas are provided to participants prior to the meetings and followed by meeting notes. To view the list of active working groups and the current schedule visit: http://www.fisd.net/workinggroups/default.asp

FISD Is Looking for Trainers: FISD is in the process of organizing a pool of trainers to provide a variety of industry educational opportunities. FISD can support trainers with management, marketing and logistical support. For more information contact Tom Davin (+1 202 -789-4465)

New Member Service: We are expanding the scope of the monthly Market Data Connection newsletter to include member press releases, white papers, webinars and events. This is a complimentary service available to FISD members only. The Market Data Connection is emailed to more than 4,000 contacts globally.  For more information or to participate please contact Elizabeth Cummings (+1 202 789 4452).

 

BUSINESS ISSUES AGENDA

Audit Working Group: The Audit Working Group is making progress on the creation of a document to represent Best Practice Recommendations for the market data audit process.   Issues being addressed by the WG include the frequency of an audit in a single location and the recommended period of time an audit can cover.  Attention is also being devoted to recommendations regarding the advance notification of an audit in an effort to make the audit process more efficient and streamlined.

BIPPS Working Group:The BIPPS WG continues its work on the policies of exchanges related to fee liability for usage of data in internal administrative functions.  A questionnaire was forwarded to FISD member exchanges and a sizable number of these have been completed and returned.  A compendium of these exchange policies is being created and will be made available to FISD members.

Derived Data and Non-Display:The Derived Data and Non-Display group is scheduled to meet via conference call on Thursday, March 27 to discuss the recommendations created by an ad hoc group which consisted of the Consumer Constituent Group and the Data Vendor Sub Group. 

FISD members are eligible and encouraged to participate in any of these working groups. Contact Nick Merritt for more information or to participate.  +1 202 789-4441


SECURITIES PROCESSING AUTOMATION

WG8 – IBEI – Entity Identifiers: Since the proposed standard was voted down last fall, the WG will be reconvened for a new start. The Call for Experts was issued in 1/29/08. FISD has notified ANSI X9D of our members interest and staff anticipates participating in the new WG.

The Definitions sub-group of our Working Group has been working away and a new document was released to members of the Working Group on 2/1/08 and there was a group meeting in NY on 2/20/08. We have formed a Review Group among interested members who do not have either the time or the technical expertise to participate in the Working Group, but who are willing to review the output of and provide feedback to the Working Group. Recent member discussions have focused on the potential models – technical, governance, commercial – that might support an IBEI solution. There has been extensive dialogue with people in other industries who have solved similar problems. If you are interested in participating in either the Working Group or the Review Group, please contact Bill Nichols as soon as possible.

Further developments:

• Four different European NNAs have joined forces and are issuing “IBEI” identifiers, although there is no existing standard nor any guarantee that whatever standard does emerge will be compatible with their processes or identifiers.
• Exchange members received a presentation on the IBEI issue from Julia Sutton at Citi during the Zurich Exchange Constituency Group meeting. Contrary to the assumptions expressed by many Vendors and Consumer firms, several Exchanges expressed strong interest in this issue. FISD staff will be following up with the Exchange Constituency to understand their position and bring them to the table with other industry participants.

FISD launches Wiki as Collaboration Platform:  FISD has launched a wiki, (http://wiki.fisd.net) a system of software tools that encourage collaboration and joint authoring. Quick, simple registration is required (email and password). Immediate goals for the site are to provide a central repository for toolsets and dictionaries from the industry. We have begun by posting term dictionaries based on MDDL, the ISO 19312 Reference Data model, and the DTCC’s New Underwriting System (NUWS) dictionary. Based on member input, we will be adding a section on MiFID shortly. We are looking for editors to supervise different sections and welcome your thoughts for additional content. Please contact Bill Nichols with any thoughts or further input.

WG1 – ISIN/CUSIP/ANNA: This one has pretty much remained static for the past 30 days. WG1 is to be continued with a new convenor in order to finish the technical part of the work and possibly include an approach for structured instruments. Next steps are currently awaiting ISO TC68/SC4 actions to select a new convenor and specify the scope of the WG activity. We’re still waiting to hear from ISO TC68/SC4. At this point, given the dissension among WG members related to documenting the results of the last round of the update process, it appears that the ISO game plan is to wait for the members to achieve some type of consensus amongst themselves before re-convening the group. Since there is typically a calendar deadline associated with reviewing and updating a standard, we expect some forward movement in the next 30-60 days.


EVENTS

FISD Zurich: Presentations and the photo gallery are available via the conference website: http://www.fisd.net/zurich/

April PacRim Local Meetings: Program content is being finalized for all three locations.  For more information or to register visit: Seoul, April 21;  Tokyo, April 23;  Sydney, April 29

May 30 FISD Moscow: Local Meeting: FISD member MICEX along with Russian National Association of Financial Communications will be hosting a local meeting for the financial information industry in Moscow on May 30. FISD members are invited to participate in the program. For more information or to register visit: http://www.fisd.net/schedules/0805_Moscow_mtg.asp

June 2, London, Issue Brief: FISD has scheduled an Issue Brief on June 2nd, hosted by BT Financial Services at the BT Tower in London. The program will be followed by a networking reception. Attendance is free for members. To register visit http://www.fisd.net/schedules/0806_issue.asp

June 12, New York, General Meeting: In conjunction with the SIFMA Technology Management Conference, FISD is hosting a General Meeting for members on June 12 at the Union League Club. The program will consist of staff reports, member briefings, panel discussions and constituency group meetings. Increase your organization's visibility to the financial information community by signing on as a exhibitor/sponsor for this event. Limited supply so act soon. For more information, contact Elizabeth Cummings.

2008 Event Schedule: Please be sure to mark your calendars and save the date for all FISD 2008 programs. All of the programs are followed by a networking reception and the majority of the events are offered to members at no charge. Details can be found at: http://www.fisd.net/schedules/default.asp


STAFF SCHEDULE: FISD staff will be visiting the following locations and are available to meet with members. Contact us directly to arrange a meeting.

 Tom Davin
April 21-22   Seoul
April 23-24   Tokyo
April 25-30   Sydney
May 29-30    Moscow
June 2-4        London
June 9-13      New York City