Two new standardized interfaces to be launched in 2011

At “Open Day 2010 – Deutsche Börse IT Conference”, Deutsche Börse Systems announced that it will be implementing two new interfaces in the trading systems of the Eurex derivatives exchange and the Xetra cash market in the upcoming year.

These are a standardized FIX interface for entering orders to facilitate participant access to Eurex and Xetra and a new interface for netted market data in multicast format.

The development of the two interfaces is part of Deutsche Börse Group’s IT strategy. In the medium term, the Group plans to implement the new high-performance trading infrastructure developed initially for the International Securities Exchange (ISE) in other markets of the Deutsche Börse Group. The new interfaces will enable Eurex and Xetra customers to adapt their own trading applications in good time. The new interfaces will eventually replace the current VALUES API open interfaces in the medium-term. In order to minimize costs for customers, both interfaces will be launched as part of the annual system releases during the course of 2011. Alongside this, Deutsche Börse plans to considerably simplify its existing access structure for customers and plans to offer a web-based solution in the future.

As part of the medium-term IT strategy, the VALUES interface used in clearing is also to be replaced by a new standard format.

According to Michael Kuhn, CIO at Deutsche Börse AG, “The launch of the new interfaces is another key step towards creating our new global trading infrastructure, which will give us an even greater edge in electronic trading.

The lowest possible latency and the highest possible data throughput rates, combined with flexible and modular solutions for our customers, are some of the key guidelines for our newly developed high-performance trading infrastructure.”

Deutsche Börse Systems had already announced the conclusion of a strategic agreement with the data centre provider Equinix on 15 July 2010. In the future, Deutsche Börse Group’s new main data centre is to house all the electronic trading systems. This data centre will also serve as the central customer location for Eurex and Xetra’s Proximity Services (co-location service).

The new data centre will provide users with the fastest possible access to the respective trading systems.