what is the financial information exchange fix 
the financial information exchange fix is a vendor neutral electronic communications protocol for the international real time exchange of securities transaction information the protocol is used by the fix community which includes nearly 300 member firms including all major investment banks 1the fix has become the de facto messaging standard for pre trade trade and post trade communication as well as for u s regulatory reporting it is compatible with almost every commonly used network technology fix protocol ltd owns and maintains the fix system the company was formed entirely to fulfill that purpose and to ensure the system remains in the public domain understanding the financial information exchange fix the fix s communications include texting and email securities trade allocations news order submissions and changes trade advertising and execution reporting mostly used for business to business b2b interactions it is designed to improve business messages and transaction flow the fix achieves this goal by minimizing redundancy and reducing time spent on telephone communications written messages transactions and documentation the benefits are particularly obvious to funds investment managers and investment banking firms fix systems transfer accurate and timely financial information concerning securities trades through and across security exchange houses introduced in 1992 for equity trading between salomon brothers and fidelity investments the fix protocol was implemented to provide for more efficient and accountable transactions and record keeping replacing a system that was handled mostly over the phone under the old system indications of interest were often lost on hold or routed to the wrong trader 2the fix has since gone on to become the standard electronic protocol for pre trade trade and post trade communication in equity markets and is increasingly being used in other markets too 2the society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication swift is the standard for back office messaging while the fix is the standard for front office messaging financial information exchange fix usersthe fix is popular among both the buy side institutions as well as the sell side brokers dealers of the financial markets users include mutual funds investment banks brokers stock and futures exchanges and other electronic communication networks ecns it is mainly used for equity transactions although it can handle bond foreign exchange and derivatives transactions 2the fix trading community member firms maintain and continue to develop the fix messaging standard community members include several leading financial institutions around the globe work done by these member firms ensures the standard continues to evolve to meet new and emerging trading requirements 2their actions also promote the adoption of fix use worldwide the fix protocol itself is a non proprietary free and open standard that is constantly being developed by its member firms 2