A set of recommended best practices for the use of the financial information eXchange (Fix) protocol has been created by the Fix Trading Community.

The document will provide guidance on the exchange of pre-trade information in the bond markets. The Fix Trading Community global fixed income sub-committee is currently reviewing the draft text and expects the final release to be ready towards the end of this year.

By adopting Fix as the messaging protocol to enable the flow of information between different market participants, parties are using a protocol that has become a standard within the capital markets. 

Fix is used by thousands of firms every day to complete millions of transactions, enabling the industry to minimise the cost of trading, maximise operational efficiencies and achieve increased transparency.

“The use of Fix for trading fixed income products is already well-established,” said Sassan Danesh, managing partner Etrading Software and co-chair of the global fixed income subcommittee. 

“I am delighted that the industry is now ready to extend the benefits of Fix standardisation to pre-trade information flows.”

Among the banks and asset managers supporting this initiative are BNP Paribas, BofA Merrill Lynch, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Societe Generale, UBS, Aberdeen AM, Aviva Investors, AXA IM, Deutsche AWM, Henderson Global Investors, Investec AM, Kames Capital, Nordea IM, Pictet AM, Pioneer Investments, Schroders, State Street Global Advisors and Standard Life Investments.