Opening Cross: If Data and Standards Were Easy…
Whether dealing with utility startups or commercial offerings, should you throw your weight behind making something a "standard," or back alternatives in the spirit of healthy competition?
![max-bowie max-bowie](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_750_463/public/import/IMG/807/101807/max-bowie-incisivemedia-color.jpg.webp?h=ee12d8fd&itok=FIjEj0Li)
This won’t be news to those who work with market and reference data on a daily basis, though OFR deputy director Cornelius “Con” Crowley recently presented a 13-page whitepaper to the European Central Bank, describing the OFR’s experience with standards, including the Legal Entity Identifier.
The problem with standards is that they need wide acceptance and adoption in order to become a true standard. And while standards may emerge from a landscape of multiple, competing codes or symbologies, continuing to try to compete against an emerging standard does little for the industry as a whole.
For example, when members of FIX Trading Community, Pantor Engineering and SpryWare collaborated to develop the FAST Protocol for reducing the amount of bandwidth consumed by transmitting options data, CME Group shelved its own bandwidth-reducing process and threw its weight behind FAST. In fact, FAST quickly became a standard for data distribution, until a company asserted a patent infringement claim against it—eventually dismissed in court—and much of the industry dropped FAST like a hot potato. Who benefited from undermining this standard? No one—not even the company that brought the patent lawsuit.
However some of the vendor-proprietary symbologies that their creators would like to see become standards are at least taking a more open approach, such as the Bloomberg-developed FIGI (Financial Instrument Global Identifier), which cost management platform vendor XPansion Financial Technology Services has now integrated into its XMon platform, allowing users to map to their preferred identifier.
Loosely speaking, standards aren’t limited to legal identifiers. For example, commercial offerings can also become an industry standard. Here, the issue is not so much about coalescing behind one “standard” but about ensuring interoperability and cooperation between competing ones. For example, CME Group and Thomson Reuters last week announced an integration between their messaging platforms, linking more than 300,000 industry professionals. But CME rival Intercontinental Exchange has its own messaging platform, as does industry-backed startup Symphony, in which many firms have a sunk cost that they would surely want to leverage.
And “intellectual” standards don’t only apply to data: they can—and arguably should—apply to many processes around data. For example, contracts, licenses, and terms of data use differ wildly by source and geography. And despite the efforts of industry associations like FISD and specialist vendors and consultants, data professionals must understand the legal ramifications of a contract, or be able to consult on-staff lawyers. This topic is discussed in this week’s Open Platform, authored by a team of law professionals who I’m sure would be only too happy to share their advice.
Because instead of being easy, “The more time we spend analyzing data costs and pricing, the more convoluted we find that it is,” says Amjad Zoghbi, director at XPansion FTS. People may complain about the cost of data, but part of that cost reflects the experience of those specialists who manage to make data management look easy, despite the fact that it isn’t. And while the industry takes leaps forward towards greater simplification and transparency on a daily basis, the evolution of financial instruments and new datasets often results in greater complexity. But if data was easy, it wouldn’t be so exciting.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Emerging Technologies
Startup helps buy-side firms retain ‘control’ over analytics
ExeQution Analytics provides a structured and flexible analytics framework based on the q programming language that can be integrated with kdb+ platforms.
The IMD Wrap: With Bloomberg’s headset app, you’ll never look at data the same way again
Max recently wrote about new developments being added to Bloomberg Pro for Vision. Today he gives a more personal perspective on the new technology.
LSEG unveils Workspace Teams, other products of Microsoft deal
The exchange revealed new developments in the ongoing Workspace/Teams collaboration as it works with Big Tech to improve trader workflows.
IBM report finds ‘shadow’ data significant contributor to data breaches
As AI and cloud take on greater importance in the capital markets, firms need to consider their threat impact zones.
Bloomberg adds AI earnings summaries to Apple Vision Pro app
The vendor continues to add content and functionality to its Bloomberg Pro for Vision app, which sits at the convergence of spatial and mobile computing.
SS&C continues Blue Prism rollout, eyes other acquisition targets
The company is focusing on organic growth while keeping its eye on potential acquisitions.
CME: CFTC OKs clearing move to Google Cloud
The CFTC has given the Chicago-based exchange approval to run its clearing and settlement infrastructure on the Google Cloud Platform, while the exchange and vendor have extended their partnership to last until at least 2037.
Once a blockchain cheerleader, Axoni changes its playbook
The fintech, whose origins can be traced back to the genesis of capital markets’ complicated flirtation with DLT, has largely ditched the tech as the foundation of its data synchronization offering, opting for more familiar territory.