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FinancialInformationeXchangeWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

FinancialInformationeXchange
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheFinancialInformationeXchange(FIX)protocolisanelectroniccommunicationsprotocolinitiatedin1992forinternationalrealtimeexchangeof
informationrelatedtothesecuritiestransactionsandmarkets.WithtrillionsofdollarstradedannuallyontheNASDAQalone,financialserviceentitiesare
investingheavilyinoptimizingelectronictradingandemployingdirectmarketaccess(DMA)toincreasetheirspeedtofinancialmarkets.Managingthedelivery
oftradingapplicationsandkeepinglatencylowincreasinglyrequiresanunderstandingoftheFIXprotocol.

Contents
1
2
3
4
5

History
FIXTradingCommunity
FIXmessageformatlayout
Users
Technicalspecification
5.1 Bodylength
5.2 Checksum
6 LatestdevelopmentsinFIXprotocol
7 DiagrammaticrepresentationofFIXsystem
8 TestingTools
9 Seealso
10 Notes
11 Externallinks

History
TheFIXProtocolspecificationwasoriginallyauthoredin1992byRobert"Bob"LamoureuxandChrisMorstatttoenableelectroniccommunicationofequity
tradingdatabetweenFidelityInvestmentsandSalomonBrothers.[1]FIXinitiallyaddressedinformationbetweenbrokerdealersandtheirinstitutionalclients.At
thetime,thisinformationwascommunicatedverballyoverthetelephone.Fidelityrealizedthatinformationfromtheirbrokerdealerscouldberoutedtothewrong
trader,orsimplylostwhenthepartieshunguptheirphones.Itwantedsuchcommunicationstobereplacedwithmachinereadabledatawhichcouldthenbeshared
amongtraders,analyzed,actedonandstored.Forexample,brokerdealerscallwithanindicationofinterest(IOI)tobuyorsellablockofstock.TheFIXinitiative
creatednewmessagessuchastheIOI.

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AccordingtotheFIXTradingCommunity,FIXhasbecomethedefactomessagingstandardforpretradeandtradecommunicationintheglobalequitymarkets,
andisexpandingintotheposttradespacetosupportstraightthroughprocessing,aswellascontinuingtoexpandintoforeignexchange,fixedincomeand
derivativesmarkets.[2]

FIXTradingCommunity
TheFIXTradingCommunity(http://www.fixtradingcommunity.org)isthenonprofit,industrydrivenstandardsbodywiththemissiontoaddressthebusinessand
regulatoryissuesimpactingmultiassettradingacrosstheglobalfinancialmarketsthroughtheincreaseduseofstandards,includingtheFIXProtocolmessaging
language,deliveringoperationalefficiency,increasedtransparency,andreducedcostsandriskforallmarketparticipants.[3]

FIXmessageformatlayout
ThemessagefieldsaredelimitedusingtheASCII01<startofheader>character.Theyarecomposedofaheader,abody,andatrailer.
UptoFIX.4.4,theheadercontainedthreefields:8(BeginString),9(BodyLength),and35(MsgType)tags.
FromFIXT.1.1/FIX.5.0,theheadercontainsfivemandatoryfieldsandoneoptionalfield:8(BeginString),9(BodyLength),35(MsgType),49(SenderCompID),56
(TargetCompID)and1128(ApplVerIDifpresentmustbein6thposition).
Thecontentinthebodyofthemessageisspecifiedby(tag35,MsgType)messagetypedefinedintheheader.
Thelastfieldofthemessageistag10,FIXMessageChecksum.Itisalwaysexpressedasathreedigitnumber(e.g.10=002).
Header+Body+Trailer:FIXContent
ExampleofaFIXmessage:ExecutionReport(PipecharacterisusedtorepresentSOHcharacter)

8=FIX.4.2|9=178|35=8|49=PHLX|56=PERS|52=2007112305:30:00.000|11=ATOMNOCCC9990900|20=3|150=E|39=E|55=MSFT|167=CS|54=1|38=15|40=2|44=15|58=PHLXEQUITYTES

IntheaboveFIXMessageBodylength9iscorrectandchecksum10wascheckedoutbyusingthesourceavailablefromQuickFIX,anopensourceFIX
implementation.
Body
Order/TradeDetailsInfo
Trailer
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SecurityCheckthroughSignatureandCheckSum.

Users
FIXiswidelyusedbyboththebuyside(institutions)aswellasthesellside(brokers/dealers)ofthefinancialmarkets.Amongitsusersaremutualfunds,
investmentbanks,brokers,stockexchangesandECNs.SeeFIXTradingCommunityOrganization(http://www.fixtradingcommunity.org/pg/main/whousesfix/fix
version)foranextensivelistofmajorFIXusers.
FIXhasbecomethestandardelectronicprotocolforpretradecommunicationsandtradeexecution.Althoughitismainlyusedforequitytransactionsinthefront
officearea,bond,derivativesandFXtransactionsarealsopossible.OnecouldsaythatwhereasSWIFTisthestandardforbackofficemessaging,FIXisthe
standardforfrontofficemessaging.However,today,themembershipofFIXProtocolLtd.isextendingFIXintoblocktradeallocationandotherphasesofthe
tradingprocess,ineverymarket,forvirtuallyeveryassetclass.

Technicalspecification
TheFIXprotocolisatechnicalspecificationforelectroniccommunicationoftraderelatedmessages.Itisaselfdescribingprotocolinmanywayssimilartoother
selfdescribingprotocolssuchasthenewerXMLXMLrepresentationofBusinesscontentofFIXmessagesisknownasFIXMLbutFIXMLisnotwidely
deployed.
FIXSessionislayeredonTCP(TransmissionControlProtocol).FIXismorepopularthanFIXMLinSecuritiesTradingbecauseFIXMLmessagesaremuch
largerinsizeduetoXMLtags.
FIXmessagesareformedfromanumberoffields,eachfieldisatagvaluepairingthatisseparatedfromthenextfieldbyadelimiterSOH(0x01).Thetagisan
integerthatindicatesthemeaningofthefield.Thevalueisanarrayofbytesthatholdaspecificmeaningfortheparticulartag(e.g.tag48issecurityID,astring
thatidentifiesthesecuritytag22isIDSource,anintegerthatindicatestheidentifierclassbeingused).Thevaluesmaybeinplaintextorencodedaspurebinary
(inwhichcasethevalueisprecededbyalengthfield).TheFIXprotocoldefinesmeaningsformosttags,butleavesarangeoftagsreservedforprivateuse
betweenconsentingparties.
TheFIXprotocolalsodefinessetsoffieldsthatmakeaparticularmessage,withinthesetoffieldssomewillbemandatoryandothersoptional.Theorderingof
fieldswithinthemessageisgenerallyunimportant,howeverrepeatinggroupsareprecededbyacountandencryptedfieldsareprecededbytheirlength.The
messageisbrokenintothreedistinctsections:thehead,bodyandtail.Fieldsmustremainwithinthecorrectsectionandwithineachsectionthepositionmaybe
importantasfieldscanactasdelimitersthatstoponemessagefromrunningintothenext.ThefinalfieldinanyFIXmessageistag10(checksum).
Therearetwomaingroupsofmessagesadminandapplication.TheadminmessageshandlethebasicsofaFIXsession.Theyallowforasessiontobestarted
andterminatedandforrecoveryofmissedmessages.Theapplicationmessagesdealwiththesendingandreceivingoftraderelatedinformationsuchasanorder
requestorinformationonthecurrentstateandsubsequentexecutionofthatorder.
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Bodylength
Bodylengthisthecharactercountstartingattag35(included)allthewaytotag10(excluded).SOHdelimitersdocountinbodylength.
ForExample:(SOHhavebeenreplacedby'|')
8=FIX.4.2|9=65|35=A|49=SERVER|56=CLIENT|34=177|52=2009010718:15:16|98=0|108=30|10=062|
0+0+5+10+10+7+21+5+7+0=65

HasaBodylengthof65.
TheSOHdelimiterattheendofaTag=ValuebelongstotheTag.

Checksum
ThechecksumalgorithmofFIXconsistsofsummingupthedecimalvalueoftheASCIIrepresentationallthebytesuptobutnotincludingthechecksumfield
(whichislast)andreturnthevaluemodulo256.

LatestdevelopmentsinFIXprotocol
ThelatestversionofFIXProtocolimplements"TransportIndependence"bypermittingmultipleversionsofapplicationmessagestobecarriedoverasingle
versionofTransportIndependentFIXSession(FIXT.1.1andhigher).
TransportIndependencealsopavesthewayfortransportprotocolssuchasmessagequeuesandwebservicestobeusedinsteadoftraditionalFIXoverTCP.
FIXnowsupportsalgorithmictradingbyuseofFIXAlgorithmicTradingDefinitionLanguageFIXatdl.
FIXProtocolLimitedhasreleasedFASTprotocolwhichstandsforFIXAdaptedforStreaming.FASTisusedforsendingMulticastmarketdata.

DiagrammaticrepresentationofFIXsystem
BelowisadiagramofhowFIXmessaginglooksbetweenBuyside/CustomerandSellside/Supplier.[4]

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TestingTools
ManycompaniesofferFIXtestingproductsandservices:
B2BitsFACTS[5]
CameronTecVeriFIX[6]
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EsprowNozomiETP[7]
ExactproTestTools[8]
OnixSFIXAnalyser[9]
WiproFIXExamen[10]

Seealso
Algorithmictradingplatform
Algorithmictrading
FIXatdl
Electronictrading
QuickFIX,anopensourceFIXimplementation
SWIFT:MessageTypes

Notes
1."TheFPLGlobalDerivativesCommitteeNewsletterSeptember2004".
2."WhatisFIX?".TheFIXProtocolOrganization.June8,2009.
3.Community,FIXTrading."HomePageFIXTradingCommunity".fixtradingcommunity.org.Retrieved20160508.
4.DeMarco,Darren."ExploitingFinancialInformationExchange(FIX)Protocol?".
5."B2BITSFIX|FIXAutomatedCertificationandTestingService".www.b2bits.com.Retrieved20160508.
6."VeriFIX|Products|CameronTecGroup".www.camerontecgroup.com.Retrieved20160508.
7."Esprow".www.esprow.com.Retrieved20160508.
8."TestTools".www.exactprosystems.com.Retrieved20160508.
9."FIXProtocolToolsMessageAnalysisFIXTrading:OnixS".www.onixs.biz.Retrieved20160508.
10."FixProtocolTesting,FixTestingTools|Wipro".www.wipro.com.Retrieved20160508.

Externallinks
FIXProtocolOrganization(http://www.fixprotocol.org/)thisofficialFIXProtocolwebsitealsoincludesacomprehensivelistofclosedsourceandopen
sourceFIXengineimplementations(http://www.fixprotocol.org/products/).
FIXimateFIXDictionary4.0(http://www.fixprotocol.org/specifications/fix4.0fiximate/)4.1(http://www.fixprotocol.org/specifications/fix4.1fiximate/)4.2
(http://www.fixprotocol.org/specifications/fix4.2fiximate/)4.3(http://www.fixprotocol.org/specifications/fix4.3fiximate/)4.4(http://www.fixprotocol.org/sp
ecifications/fix4.4fiximate/)
FIXwiki(http://fixwiki.org/)aWikidedicatedtoFIX.AspecificationreferencetoollikeFIXimatebutbecauseitisawikiitalsoallowsusernotesand
feedback
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FullFIXProtocolDictionaryonOnixs(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary.html)quickandeasytousecontemporarydictionaryoftheFIXProtocol
(versions4.0(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/4.0/index.html),4.1(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/4.1/index.html),4.2(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdi
ctionary/4.2/index.html),4.3(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/4.3/index.html),4.4(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/4.4/index.html),5.0(http://www.
onixs.biz/fixdictionary/5.0/index.html),5.0.SP1(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/5.0.SP1/index.html),5.0.SP2(http://www.onixs.biz/fixdictionary/5.0.
SP2/index.html)).
FixSpecFIX4.0(https://fixspec.com/FIX/4.0)FIX4.1(https://fixspec.com/FIX/4.1)FIX4.2(https://fixspec.com/FIX/4.2)FIX4.3(https://fixspec.com/FI
X/4.3)FIX4.4(https://fixspec.com/FIX/4.4)FIX5.0(https://fixspec.com/FIX/5.0)FIX5.0SP1(https://fixspec.com/FIX/5.0_SP1)FIX5.0SP2(https://fixs
pec.com/FIX/5.0_SP2)FIXT(https://fixspec.com/FIX/FIXT)
OnlineResourceincludingusagenotesonRapidAddition(http://www.rapidaddition.com/fiximates/FIXHome.php)OnlineFIXResourceincluding
detailednotesonusage(versions4.0,4.2,5.0SP2).
FIXGlobal(http://fixglobal.com/)FreeglobaltradingjournalandofficialmagazineoftheFIXProtocol.
WhatisFIXProtocol?(http://blog.targetcompid.com/post/39879066034/whatisfixprotocol)NontechnicaloverviewofFIXProtocol.
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