Policies
Contact the FIX Program Office with any questions.
Intellectual Property & Licenses
In addition to the Terms & Conditions that are agreed upon when accessing the FIX Trading Community website, the below outlines the relevant policies and licenses related to all content. Any capitalized terms used below that are not defined herein shall have the respective meanings given to them in the Terms & Conditions or Standardization IP Policy.
IP Policy
You acknowledge and agree that the Service, and any necessary software used in connection with the Service (“Software”), both contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property rights and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that Content contained in sponsor advertisements or information presented to you through the Service or by advertisers is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorised by FIX Protocol Ltd., you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Service. You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through the interfaces that are provided by FIX Protocol Ltd. for use in accessing the Service. All FIX IP related to the process of producing FIX standards and recommended practices are governed by the Standardization Intellectual Property Policy.
Copyright Policy
You personally will not, and will not permit anyone else to:
- store, copy, modify, distribute, or resell any of the Content made available on the Web Site or compile or collect any Content as part of a database or other work, except where such Content explicitly permits such use;
- use any automated tool (e.g., robots, spiders) to use the Web Site or store, copy, modify, distribute, or resell any Content, except where such Content explicitly permits such use;
- rent, lease, or sublicense your access to the Web Site to another person;
- use the Service or Content for any purpose except for your own personal use save where explicitly permitted;
- circumvent or disable any digital rights management, usage rules, or other security features of the Service or Content;
- use the Service in a manner that threatens the integrity, performance, or availability of the Service or Content; or
- remove, alter, or obscure any proprietary notices (including copyright notices and license terms) on any portion of the Content.
Copyrights related to the process of producing FIX standards and recommended practices are governed by the Standardization Intellectual Property Policy.
Trademark & Servicemark Policy
All Content, including all copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary and/or intellectual property rights is the property of FIX Protocol Ltd., or our affiliates. By continuing to use the Web Site you acknowledge that such material is protected by applicable United Kingdom and international intellectual property laws and other laws. Trademarks related to the process of producing FIX standards and recommended practices are governed by the Standardization IP Policy.
Standardization IP Policy
The FIX Standardization IP Policy applies to participants involved in the development and adoption of FIX standards and requires that participants in FIX meetings disclose existing or pending patents containing Essential Claims that would be infringed if the Contribution is included in the implemented FIX Specification. The policy requires that the patent holder provide a general disclaimer to the effect that such party does not hold and does not currently intend to hold any patent to Essential Claims, or assurance that a license to such patent for an Essential Claims will be made available to Applicants desiring to utilize the license for the purpose of implementing the FIX Specification.
Limited License
FIX Protocol Ltd. grants you permission to download Materials solely for use within your organisation and/or for the purpose of conducting your organisation’s business subject to the terms of the applicable License. Certain material is licensed by FIX Protocol Ltd to you under a Creative Commons Attribution – No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. You agree to comply with all license requirements, such as those related to attribution and derivative works. The full terms of the license are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/legalcode. Material covered by this license is clearly marked. In particular, material identified as comprising the FIX Protocol specification cannot be downloaded and adapted with a view to creating a new right, title, license or interest in the adapted version of the FIX Protocol. You may obtain a copy of the License at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/.
Certain material is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this material except in compliance with the License. Material covered by this license is clearly marked. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Patent Policy
Certain FIX Trading IP, including but not limited to inventions, processes, methods, techniques, technical specifications and standards, software, firmware, APIs, databases, as well as know-how and improvements related thereto, may be subject to patent rights. The Company hereby assigns to FIX Protocol Ltd., and its affiliates, with full title guarantee all future claims in any patent or patent application created from FIX Trading IP (the “FIX Patents”) FIX Protocol Ltd. hereby grants to you under reasonable and non-discriminatory (“RAND”) terms a royalty and fee free, revocable (as specified in clause 12.c below), non-exclusive, worldwide, non-transferable, perpetual patent license to make, use, import, create derivative works from, and otherwise directly or indirectly distribute any FIX Patents for commercial or non-commercial purposes. Patents related to the process of producing FIX standards and recommended practices are governed by the Standardization Intellectual Property Policy.
- Release. By acceptance of this royalty-free patent license to the FIX Patents, Member, on behalf of itself, its predecessors, successors, affiliates, assigns, and transferees, hereby: (i) accepts and assumes all risks and liabilities with respect to, and ii) forever agrees to release, discharge, indemnify, hold harmless, and defend FIX Protocol Ltd, together with its predecessors, successors, affiliates, assigns, and transferees, from all liabilities of any nature whatsoever, known or unknown, which Member has, or may have had, against to FIX Protocol Ltd, for any acts or omissions whatsoever related to this patent grant, the FIX Patents, and any products, methods, and processes described in or related to the FIX Patents.
- Covenant Not to Sue. By acceptance of this royalty-free patent license to the FIX Patents, Member, on behalf of itself, its predecessors, successors, affiliates, assigns, and transferees, hereby irrevocably covenants that neither it nor any of its related entities granting a release under subparagraph 12.a above will participate or cooperate in the commencement, maintenance, or prosecution of any action or proceeding of any kind or nature whatsoever against to FIX Protocol Ltd, together with its predecessors, successors, affiliates, assigns, and transferees, related to this patent grant, the FIX Patents, and any products, methods, and processes described in or related to the FIX Patents
- Revocability. FIX Protocol Ltd reserves the right to revoke any patent license in a FIX Patent in the event that the FIX Patent is being misused to create competing specifications or protocols or is being used to the detriment of the FIX Trading Community and the adopters of the FIX Standards.
Competition Law
The FIX Trading Community is committed to adhering to all applicable competition laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Our competition law policy aims to promote fair and open competition by ensuring that activities undertaken by members, committees, and working groups do not result in anti-competitive behaviour or unlawful collaboration. This policy is designed to safeguard the integrity of our processes and protect both our members and the wider industry from the risks associated with breaches of competition law.
Data Protection & Privacy
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018, the FIX Trading Community has implemented policies and procedures to ensure the protection of personal data during its collection and processing. Please refer to the relevant links below for our GDPR and UK Data Protection Act related policies.
Privacy Policy
Sets out how we look after your data, your rights in relation to the data we collect and retain about you and how the law protects your right to privacy.
Data Retention Policy
Defines the minimum requirements for the maintenance, storage, retrieval, retention and destruction of the documents and records of FIX.
Data Breach Policy
FIX has robust security measures in place and whilst it does not expect data breaches to occur it nevertheless has comprehensive procedures in place to address any such incident, in the highly unlikely event that one should occur. FIX has never previously suffered any data breach incidents.
Media & Communications
General Communications Policy
All communication with third parties (including but not limited to the media, regulators and other industry bodies) by anybody acting as a representative of FIX Trading Community, must be approved by the FIX Program Office, prior to engagement. 'Representatives of FIX Trading Community' include both paid resources, FIX Trading Community leaders and all member firm volunteers, and refers specifically to communications made by such individuals in connection with FIX Trading Community related business.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure all communication is aligned to FIX Trading Community’s core principles and the promotion of non-proprietary, free and open standards, preventing any attempts to represent opinions beyond this or lobby for any other outcome.
Media Policy for FIX Trading Community Events: Chatham House Rules
As a community organisation, FIX’s primary goal is to encourage the open and free sharing of information among our members, to foster the continual improvement of global financial markets through cooperation and collaboration.
As such, all FIX events are held under Chatham House Rules. This means participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
Media attendees at FIX events will be provided with a dedicated contact to facilitate access to speakers who have agreed to media contact and assist with quote checks.