TRACE Corporate/Agency Re-Platform and Data Feed Protocol Changes
As part of its Transparency Services improvement initiative, beginning Monday, September 9, 2024, FINRA will re-platform the TRACE Corporate and Agency product to a new Linux-based operating system. FINRA encourages client testing participation in this effort to validate that all processes work within the TRACE reporting framework.
As part of this migration FINRA will introduce a new protocol to the TRACE Corporate and Agency Data feeds – ATDS, BTDS, and BTDS-144A. TRACE data feed clients must adhere to the new protocol and feed changes as described below. FINRA has updated the ATDS, BTDS, and BTDS-144A specifications, IP address configurations and the MOLD/UDP 64 specification. FINRA invites clients to utilize its Transparency Services Initiatives page for updates.
Updated Specifications:
ATDS IP Address Configurations
BTDS IP Address Configurations
BTDS-144A 2.1 MOLD/UDP 64 v1.0
BTDS-144A IP Address Configurations
Protocol and Retransmissions:
The TRACE data feeds deliver TRACE transaction data. MOLD/UDP 64 will replace the current non-interactive simplex mode using Internet Protocol (IP). Additionally, client retransmission capability to retrieve data packets will be automated via the use of dedicated unicast addresses; this will replace the current manual requests for data retransmission. Once requests are processed, the retransmitted messages will be disseminated via the feed multicast connections used for real time messages.
Message Header and Data Content:
Sections 2 and 3 of the TRACE data feed specifications have been modified by eliminating references to network communications. In addition, the Message Header and data messages have been updated to reflect label and content changes.
Message Header: The Message Header will be modified to 24 bytes.
- The Session Identifier and Retransmission Requester fields commonly included in the Message Header, will be removed from the Message Header and now be included in the MOLD/UDP 64 message protocol layer.
- The Message Sequence Number will now be included in the MOLD/UDP 64 message protocol layer.
- The Message Sequence Number field is renamed “Trade Identifier” and will be 7 bytes. The Trade Identifier is used for tracking trades and is unique per session.
Control Messages:
- Line Integrity, Sequence Number Reset, and End of Retransmission Control messages commonly included in the feed will now be included in the MOLD/UDP 64 message protocol layer.
- Start of Day, End of Day, End of Trade Reporting, and End of Transmissions will be disseminated once and not three times.
Data Messages:
- The Original Message Sequence Number field in the Cancel and Correction messages are renamed to “Original Trade Identifier”.
Network Communications:
New Ports and Multicast Addresses for ATDS, BTDS and BTDS-144A will be employed when MOLD/UDP 64 is introduced. FINRA will continue to offer data via Primary A and Primary B groups (NY Metro; Ashburn), and TRACE data feed clients are encouraged to process both groups. In addition, FINRA has employed Disaster Recovery groups to be utilized in the event of catastrophic failure encountered at the data centers. FINRA encourages data feed clients to also be prepared to process the Disaster Recovery groups.
Help Getting Started:
Clients with questions on the MOLD/UDP 64 protocol should contact Trading Services at 212.231.5180. Clients needing network assistance for setup for any of the new routes should contact [email protected].
Testing Period:
FINRA will offer testing for the new protocol and other changes listed above. Testing your TRACE Corporate and Agency processes and trade report validations are strongly recommended.
FINRA will furnish a formal test schedule in a separate technical notice. It is required that all TRACE data feed clients will accommodate the data feed changes by Monday, September 9, 2024.
Please email FINRA Product Management or call (866) 899-2107 with questions regarding this notice.