Rules for the Technical Installations of
the Electronic Trading System,
XETRA®, of the Exchange Operating
Company, Wiener Börse AG
§ 1
Definitions
(1) The network of the electronic trading system XETRA® comprises all of the hardware elements linked together at the individual network nodes as well as all components required for their linkage (transmission lines to telecommunications, etc.) which as a whole constitute the technical backbone for trading through the electronic trading system, XETRA®. The layout is star-shaped and in each case the network nodes are the central hosts (back ends), access points and the trading participants’ trading systems. If a trading participant has selected a connection variant pursuant to Art. 7 for accessing the electronic trading system XETRA® that is based either exclusively on the Internet or on a combination of one or several fixed lines and the Internet, then the network does not include the Internet connection.
(2) The EDP system of the exchange operating company comprises in addition to the network of the electronic trading system XETRA® also the installed exchange applications in operating condition.
(3) A market participant trading system consists of one or several computers (Member Integration System Server or workstation) that allows trading through the electronic trading system XETRA® and a network component through which the connection to the network is established. The computers and network components may be redundant to increase backup security in case of system breakdowns. If a redundant configuration is selected, the market participant system may be expanded to include further locations that do not necessarily have to be connected at the same access point. Furthermore, the market participant trading system comprises all of the components required to maintain internal market participant network connections (e.g. gateways, security routers, etc.), if they are within a network area reserved for the electronic trading system XETRA® (logical network). Further hardware elements that are not part of the market participant trading system, but that may be connected are those that meet the requirements defined by the exchange operating company and do not influence the integrity and security of the data within the logical network. (4) The Member Integration System Server (MISS) is a market participant’s computer that is integrated into the network of the electronic trading system XETRA® and equipped with sufficient capacity and data security capabilities to guarantee the market participant’s technical base for taking part in trading through the electronic trading XETRA®. MISS is a component of the market participant’s trading system and in this function also a node within the XETRA ® trading system’s network.
(5) It is possible to join the MISS computers of several trading participants at one common server and thus create a Local Area Network (LAN) (Basic Multi Member MISS) or that several trading participants use one MISS group consisting of two servers (Extended Multi Member Miss).
(6) The logistic network of the electronic trading system XETRA® comprises in addition to the network, all of the components of a trading participant linked to the network for technical reasons if these are within a network area reserved for the XETRA® trading system.
(7) Telecommunications between the individual nodes in the network is done via fixed lines or the Internet or a combination of one or several fixed lines and the Internet. A market participant can set up a link either through a simple connection or via a multi-member connection. A simple connection means that a market participant is linked only via a fixed line or via the Internet. It shall not affect the possibility of setting up redundant lines. A multi-member connection means that several trading participants jointly use one connection, each trading participant having one dedicated MISS group consisting of two servers (Basic Multi
Member MISS) linked to form into one LAN, or that several trading participants use one MISS group consisting of two servers (Extended Multi Member MISS).
(8) The network parameters depend on which network software and system software is used and on the hardware components that regulate the communication between computers within a network. The network parameters are set at typical default values at the time the network software is installed for the first time. (9) Quote machines are automated quotation systems for securities. Based on the price data and additional parameters set by the trading participants, orders are generated automatically and routed via progammed interfaces of XETRA® to the electronic trading system XETRA®.Usually, this refers to the order type quote. The responsible authorized exchange trader is not permitted to intervene manually. Said trader is only responsible for setting the parameters of the quote machine.
(10) Electronic eyes are computer programs that continuously receive and process the prices of the securities traded through the XETRA® trading system. As soon as the price of an order received by an electronic eye moves within the range defined by the market participant, the electronic eye automatically creates an order that is routed to the XETRA® electronic trading system via a programmable interface in the electronic trading system for it to be executed. These are usually IOC/FOK orders, because it is not in the interest of the trading participant for the order to remain in the orderbook if it is not executed. The authorized exchange trader responsible is not permitted to manually intervene. Said trader is only authorized to set the parameters. (11) Algorithmic Trading Engines are computer programs that permit automated order entry into the XETRA® trading system on the basis of pre-defined, quantitative models, with no intervention by the responsible authorized exchange trader being permitted. The starting point for order generation is usually the historic and current market data, which is evaluated and valuated within the closed system and transformed into an order entry. Algorithmic Trading Engines do not respond to price changes, similar to an Electronic Eye, because the underlying model must include historic as well as current market data.
(12) Trade Engines are computer programs that represent a combination of the functionality of the Electronic Eye and Quote Machine, but these do not have any functionality in the sense of Algorithmic Trading Engines. (13) Order-routing systems are electronic order transmission systems that are used by the trading participants to send exchange orders. Such systems also include systems through which orders are forwarded via the Internet. Order-routing systems may be linked to the electronic trading system XETRA® via the programmed interface as set out under Article 2 paragraph 4 for routing orders entered through this path directly into the electronic trading system XETRA®.
(14) Third-party software is software that is not made available by the exchange operating company and is connected to the programmable interface of the electronic trading system, XETRA® , by a trading member. (15) A location in the meaning of these rules means the entirety of all business premises of a trading member within a building complex in which the trading system for members are installed for actively trading securities. Business premises in which the member trading systems are installed that serve merely as emergency systems or for the purpose of conducting technical simulations are not considered locations in the meaning of these rules.
(16) A control segment exchange of the electronic trading system XETRA® features a separate registration option (login) to the trading system. This registration makes the logical separation of the data and information sent by the trading system or to the trading system possible by trading participant. The electronic trading system XETRA® permits the parallel operation of several control segment exchanges.
§ 2
Connections
(1) After an applicant is admitted as exchange member and authorized to take part in the electronic trading system XETRA® as a trading participant, the participant is linked to the XETRA® trading system. This requires the such member meets the technical requirements stated in these implementation rules relating to the hardware, software and the network configurations and that the link to the XETRA® electronic trading system operates free of hindrances regardless of whether such hindrances are due to the location or any other technical reason. Furthermore, the trading participant must have EDP equipment that guarantees orderly trading through the electronic trading system, XETRA®, and does not cause disruptions in the configuration, connection or operation, especially regarding trading and settlement. The exchange operating company shall define these requirements according to the hardware and software used. All other software must meet the requirements of sentence 2; the trading participant must furnish proof thereof. The exchange operating company shall at all times be empowered to check compliance with these requirements. All trading participants shall be obliged to keep their EDP equipment in good operating condition and to ensure their ongoing operability in accordance with the above mentioned rules for the duration of membership.
(2) The installation of MISSes and workstations (trading stations) shall generally be permitted only within the registered business premises of the trading participant on the territory of Austria. The exchange operating company may also permit the installation of such hardware also in the business premises of a trading participant or a third party charged by membership applicant to operate the MISS as well as outside of Austria upon request of a trading participant or of a membership applicant if the validity and compliance with the General Terms and Condition of Business of the exchange operating company are guaranteed, in particular, also by the third party acting on behalf of a membership applicant.
(3) Upon special request of a trading participant, the exchange operating company may permit the connection of systems for computer-assisted trading (quote machines and/or electronic eyes and/or Algorithmic Trading Engines and/or a combination thereof) to the electronic trading system, XETRA® via one of the programmable interfaces at the MISS/workstation under the condition that the trading participant guarantees on a continuous basis the following:
the systems are installed at the locations of the trading participants,
the parameters are defined for at least one person as a qualified exchange trader admitted to trading on the exchange, and
it is technically ensured that only such orders are entered into the trading system that are permitted according to the trading rules and are compatible with the trading system, and
the orders are entered only using the user ID defined by the exchange operating company
(4) A trading participant shall be entitled to connect an order-routing system via a defined interface if it submits a written request which has been authorized by the exchange operating company in the following cases:
the orders transmitted are filtered electronically on the trading participant’s system before being fed into the XETRA® trading system, and such orders are checked according to specific parameters by the trading participant before being released; with the filters being set technically so as to ensure that only such orders are entered into the trading system that are permitted according to the trading rules and are compatible with the trading system;
at least one authorized exchange trader is assigned to such filter who shall be responsible for setting the parameters, controlling and monitoring the filter and is able to interrupt the transmission manually at any time;
the trading participant has informed the exchange operating company in writing of the personal identification code of the assigned exchange trader and
the trading member has imposed the obligation on all users of the order-routing system operating by said member to comply with the General Terms and Conditions of Business of the Exchange Operating Company, and undertakes to exclude immediately any user of the order-routing system that breaches said conditions from the further use of the system.
The connection of any system for computer-assisted trading (Quote Machines and/or Electronic Eyes and/or Algorithmic Trading Engines and/or a combination thereof) to the electronic trading system XETRA® via an order-routing system is prohibitted.
Trading members shall be liable for all orders placed through the order-routing system as if these orders were their own orders.
The forwarding of data and information from the electronic trading system via an order-routing system of a trading participant to third parties shall require the consent of the exchange operating company in accordance with Art. 6 of the Xetra® Trading Rules.
The consent of the exchange operating company shall be deemed as granted to the trading member operating the respective order-routing system especially if said trading member has signed the respective price dissemination contract with the exchange operating company regarding the receipt of price data from the electronic trading system.
(5) The exchange operating company may withdraw the permit for a connection of systems for computer-assisted trading (Quote Machines and/or Electronic Eyes and/or Algorithmic Trading Engines and/or a combination thereof) to the electronic trading system XETRA® or to connect an order-routing system via a defined interface in the following cases:
the requirements for approval pursuant to paras 3 and 4 were not given, in particular, if the approval was granted on the basis of incorrect or incomplete information of the trading participant; or
the requirements for approval cease to be met at a later time; or
a trading member or a user of a system for computer-assisted trading (Quote Machines and/or Electronic Eyes and/or Algorithmic Trading Engines and/or a combination thereof) or of an order-routing system operated by the trading participant repeatedly and continuously commits breaches of the provsions pursuant to paras 3 and 4 or if orderly exchange trading is no longer guaranteed or cannot be guaranteed due to the operation or use of a system for computer-assisted trading or of an order-routing system.
§ 3
Technical Requirements
The technical requirements contained in these technical implementation rules shall be binding. Any deviations from said rules shall require the written consent of the exchange operating company. The exchange operating company shall have the right to inspect at any time the configurations and network parameters of the trading participants and to demand corrections of any deviations discovered. The trading participant shall be obliged to immediately respond to such requests.
§ 4
Hardware
(1) The trading participant shall be obliged to operate only EDP equipment that guarantees orderly trading through the electronic trading system XETRA®.
(2) The exchange operating company shall name recognized hardware components that may be used to equip the trading participant’s system linking it to XETRA®.
(3) Any hardware configurations planned for use by a trading participant must be admitted for approval to the exchange operating company before being put into operation; this shall also apply to any changes.
(4) The operation of a trading participant’s system shall be the responsibility of the trading participant. The trading participant shall ensure that the operation of its system does not hinder the procedures or functionalities of the electronic trading system, XETRA®.
§ 5
Software
(1) The exchange operating company shall provide the trading participants with application software without the source code. A trading participant shall only be permitted to use the current versions supplied and shall not be permitted to modify or to copy it without the consent of the exchange operating company. An exception to this rule is made for copying the application software if the copies serve exclusively as backups. Every trading participant shall be responsible for the installation of the application software on the components of its trading system.
(2) The exchange operating company shall state each valid version of the system software including all of the necessary components that are permitted for use to operate the trading participant’s trading system . (3) The application software made available by the exchange operating company shall contain a programmable interface (VALUES API) through which the applications may be connected to the electronic trading system XETRA®. The trading participant shall be responsible for the software that uses such interface. (4) If a trading member plans to connect third-party software to the programmable interface, such trading member may be obligated by the exchange operating company to assign an individual electronic identifier to this third-party software before connecting it to the system in accordance with the system logic defined by the exchange operating company and to register the third-party software with the exchange operating company. The trading member must ensure that the individual identifier assigned to the third-party software is always sent to the electronic trading system when the registered third-party software is communicating with the electronic trading system. Should the connection of the third-party software to the programmable interface of the electronic trading system cause disruptions in the electronic trading system, the exchange operating company has the right to bar the linkage of such software with immediate effect.
§ 6
Scope of Utilization
A trading participant shall be permitted to use the data transmission installations that enable trading and settlement through the electronic trading system XETRA® only for the purpose of trading in securities and settling trades concluded on the cash market of Wiener Börse though said electronic trading system XETRA®. Any other type of use shall require the prior written agreement between the trading participant and the exchange operating company. It is pointed out that the trading participants may receive the data and information of all configured control segments exchanges on the electronic trading system XETRA® on the MISS servers, but may only trade on those control segment exchanges for which they have been admitted. The forwarding of any data or information to third parties shall be permitted only with the written consent of the exchange operating company.
§ 7
Transmission Lines to Telecommunications Installations
(1) The technical connection of the trading participant to the electronic trading system XETRA® is established via a fixed line or via the Internet (or a combination of several fixed lines or one fixed line and Internet). In the case of a connection via a fixed line, at least one backup connection, either via the fixed line or Internet must be maintained, with the back-up connection having the same bandwidth as the main connection. In the case of an exclusively Internet-based connection, no back-up connection is required. Apart from single connections, trading participants may also set up multiple connections to the network of the XETRA® electronic trading system.
Fixed line: Deutsche Börse AG shall retain all rights relating to the lines for the entire physical network of the electronic trading system, XETRA®, as operator of the XETRA® trading system. The installation and operation of the transmission lines to the telecommunications installations required for the link between the trading participants and the trading system, XETRA®, shall be the responsibility of the exchange operating company and any third parties it contracts.
The exchange operating company shall establish a link to the trading participant’s trading system. A prerequisite is that the transmission paths and types of connections supported by the electronic trading system XETRA® are available for connecting a trading participant and that these can be installed at the usual business conditions and reasonable expense, taking the security standards of the exchange into account.
Internet: The connection via an Internet connection is the sole responsibility of the trading participant. The trading participant must ensure that the bandwidth of the connection has the sufficient dimension for a connection to the XETRA® electronic trading system.
(2) Apart from simple connections, trading participants may also be linked to the network of the electronic trading system XETRA® via multi-member connections. Generally, trading participants should be connected via two lines; multi-member connections must be set up using two lines.
(3) The exchange operating company may limit the number of transmission lines a trading participant requests for connecting to the system if this is necessary due to system-specific reasons or other objective reasons.
§ 8
Network Parameters
(1) The appropriately installed MISS software made available by the exchange operating company enables all of the connections required to participate in trading.
(2) The exchange operating company defines network parameters for the purpose of ensuring network security and protecting the installations of the trading participants. The exchange operating company shall in particular ensure that
trading participants’ computers that are not part of a trading participant’s trading system only have access to the trading system of such trading participant, and that these computers to not have access to other computers within the network of the XETRA® electronic trading system;
only the computers of the trading participants’ systems may be accessed;
the unauthorized access of a trading participant’s system to the computers of the XETRA® electronic trading system is not possible;
communication between the different participants is not possible through the network .
(3) When installing the MISS software and the network components, the trading participants shall define the network parameters as set out under paragraph 2.
(4) The exchange operating company shall reserve areas within the network for the logical network. In order to take part in trading, the network areas named by the exchange operating company must be used. Within their own in-house networks, trading participants may use their own network areas that are not reserved for the XETRA® trading systems.
(5) The exchange operating company assigns node numbers and node names for the entire logical network. Within the network, only the nodes authorized and which have been assigned numbers may communicate with each other. Therefore it shall not be permitted to connect trading participants’ computers in the reserved network areas that have not been assigned node numbers. It shall not be permitted to transfer an assigned number and corresponding node name on one computer to another computer that has functionalities other than those specified in the application.
§ 9
Contingency Planning
(1) All trading participants shall be responsible for taking the appropriate measures within their areas of responsibility for contingency planning purposes and solving problems.
(2) All trading participants shall be permitted to set up inactive emergency computing centers (backup centers) and to connect these to an access point via an inactive line. Any expenses incurred by the exchange operating company in this context shall be borne by the trading participant in such cases.
(3) If a trading participant has two or more locations, it shall be permitted to link two locations using one connection in order to ensure a backup in the event that the line between one location and one access point is interrupted.
§ 10 Personnel
All trading participants shall be obliged to employ qualified personnel in sufficient numbers at all times during exchange trading hours in order to guarantee the orderly operation of the components of the XETRA®
electronic trading system on the trading participant’s side. This shall apply in particular to technical disruptions in which the exchange operating company must give instructions to staff members to ensure that the appropriate measures are taken. It shall also be required that a person be named to the exchange operating company as a contact in the event of technical disruptions and if a service contract exists with a third party, to furnish proof thereof.
§ 11 Costs
The costs of procuring, installing and maintaining all of the hardware and software installed at a trading participant shall be borne by said trading participant.
§ 12 Technical Problems
(1) In the event of technical problems, the exchange operating company can block or restrict access to the electronic trading system for one, several or all trading members regardless of whether such problems occur at one trading member, at several or all trading members. The exchange operating company can permit trading to continue or reinstate trading after an interruption even though one or several trading members do not have access to the electronic trading system if in the opinion of the exchange operating company an orderly market continues or is possible again.
(2) Trading members are under the obligation to inform themselves of the technical requirements and changes announced in the media made available by the exchange operating company. The exchange operating company will inform all trading members immediately, as far as possible, of any technical problems. In the event of technical problems with the electronic trading system, trading members are under the obligation to grant access to their locations at which they have installed trading systems to the exchange operating company or any third-party commissioned by the exchange operating company to fix the disruption. (3) In the event of a trading interruption for technical reasons, the exchange operating company shall put the XETRA® trading system into "halt status", thus blocking the entry of any data into the system. Trading is resumed after such trading interruptions in those securities that were tradable at the time of the interruption by commencing a new pre-trading phase. Subsequently, trading continues as usual according to the general trading rules. The exchange operating company shall immediately inform the trading participants of the time periods of the trading phases.
(4) If a trading participant is not able to access the XETRA® trading system for technical reasons, the exchange operating company may offer such trading participant the service of entering the trades on its behalf (trading on behalf) to the extent possible under the given organizational framework. The exchange operating company shall only be responsible for errors occurring during the entry of the data on behalf of a trading participant if it is proven that the exchange operating company’s bodies, assistants or any other persons employed for such purposes have caused such errors by willful intent or due to gross negligence. (5) The exchange operating company may request trading participants to provide information or to hand over documents at any time if required to prevent or to remedy a technical problem.
Promulgated by Official Notice of the exchange operating company, Wiener Börse AG, No. 528 of 14 October 1999 (effective 5 November 1999), amended by Official Notice of the exchange operating company, Wiener Börse AG, No. 470 of 28 September 2000 (amendment took effect on 1 October 2000), No. 271 of 26 June 2001 (amendment took effect on 2 July 2001), No. 669 of 13 May 2005 (amendment took effect on 17 May 2005) and No. 542 of 12 April 2010 (amendment took effect on 14 April 2010).
