EP292 added to FIX Latest (Algo Certification)

The FIX Global Technical Committee (GTC) announces the addition of new Extension Packs to the FIX Latest specification, the normative specification of the FIX Protocol. The artifacts included for each of the individual Extension Packs are as follows:

  • ASBUILT – clean PDF document of the implemented Gap Analysis that includes the assignment of new tags and values;
  • ASBUILT with changetracks – same as ASBUILT but with changetracks showing the differences compared to the document submitted to the GTC;
  • Orchestra Repository – single XML file of FIX Latest using Orchestra v1.0;
  • Unified Repository – XML files of FIX Latest using Repository 2010 Edition;
  • Basic Repository – XML files of FIX Latest using basic repository format;
  • FIXML Schema – XSD files of FIX Latest using FIXML.

The complete list of Extension Packs is available here.

EP292 Algo Certification

This is a major Extension Pack supporting algo certification and testing and comprises a total of 9 new FIX messages as follows:

  • AlgoCertificateRequest(35=EH) 
  • AlgoCertificateRequestAck(35=EI) 
  • AlgoCertificateReport(35=EJ) 
  • AlgoCertificateReportAck(35=EK) 
  • TestSuiteDefinitionRequest(35=EL) 
  • TestSuiteDefinitionRequestAck(35=EM) 
  • TestActionRequest(35=EN) 
  • TestActionRequestAck(35=EO) 
  • TestActionReport(35=EP) 

MiFIR requires the following in RTS 7 Article 10(1): 

Trading venues shall require their members to certify that the algorithms they deploy have been tested to avoid contributing to or creating disorderly trading conditions prior to the deployment or substantial update of a trading algorithm or trading strategy and explain the means used for that testing. 

The new FIX messages support detailed definitions of test suites. A test suite contains an algo with parameters together with multiple test scenarios. Each test scenario consists of multiple test steps with its own parameters. Test steps may be executed sequentially or overlapping and can be defined with absolute or relative start/end times. Test results are per test scenario and can be provided for different measures. The aggregation of test results across all measures of a test scenario to a scenario status (e.g. pass, fail) is not defined by FIX. The same applies to the aggregation of all test scenario states of a given test suite to a test suite status.

Generic components are provided to convey the modules of the algo system and the test system. Version information is supported for the modules as an audit trail regarding the software running the algo system towards the venue or the internal test system. All of this information may be part of the algo certificate provided to the venue prior to submitting orders marked with the corresponding algo identifier.