Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Data Technical News #2009 - 62
NASDAQ OMX Reminds Firms of Option Symbology Readiness and Impact to Market Data Feeds

What is the Options Symbology Initiative?

The Options Symbology Initiative (OSI) is intended to replace use of multiple root symbols and Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) codes to identify option series with explicit series elements:

1. Security Symbol
2. Expiration Year, Month and Day
3. Strike Value
4. Call or Put

In most cases, the security symbol becomes the same as the issue symbol (stock symbol, primary index or World Currency Option symbol), with variation for situations such as corporate actions or other circumstances requiring a non-standard security symbol.

The initiative is accomplished in two main phases:

• Conversion — Conversion from dependence on OPRA codes to use of explicit series elements.
• Consolidation — Consolidation of all roots into the issue symbol.

For complete details of the OSI plan, industry testing dates and implementation dates, refer to the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) website.

For The NASDAQ Options Market, what changes are required for OSI?

In order to be prepared for trading on The NASDAQ Options Market^SM (NOM) under the new symbology plan, all firms must transition to the OSI-compliant versions of the NOM data feeds by no later than February 12, 2010.

• Affected Market Data Feeds:
  • Best of NASDAQ Options (BONO)
  • Depth at Price (DAP)
  • ITCH to Trade Options (ITTO)
  • Options NOIView

OSI-compliant versions of the NOM data feeds are currently available for connectivity. Please visit the IP Multicast Data Feed Addressing Information web page for a list of the OSI-compliant multicast assignments.

How do I order the OSI-compliant versions of the NOM data feeds?

To initiate this data on a data feed, firms must submit the appropriate documentation and receive prior approval from NASDAQ OMX:

• Data Feed Request Form - Required for all firms
• NASDAQ OMX Global Data Agreement - Required for all firms prior to initiation of the first NASDAQ OMX data service only
• NASDAQ Vendor Agreement - Required for all firms prior to initiation of UTP Level 1 data service only
• System Application - Required for firms only if the data will be displayed or used in a system that is not yet approved by NASDAQ OMX

For the complete list of NASDAQ OMX and UTP market data agreements and forms, please refer to the NASDAQ OMX Global Data Products Agreements and Forms page.

Are testing opportunities available for OSI?

Testing is available daily in the NASDAQ OMX Testing Facility. Contact NASDAQ OMX Trading Services at +1 212 231 5180 for more information.

For NASDAQ OMX PHLX, what changes are required for OSI?

There is no impact to the existing versions of Top of PHLX Options (TOPO) and TOPO Plus Orders data feeds for NASDAQ OMX PHLX^SM (PHLX^®) as these feeds are already symbology compliant. Refer to Options Technical Update #2009-12 for more information on PHLX requirements.

Where can I find additional information?

• Refer to the Symbology Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on the NASDAQ OMX Trader^® website.
• Refer to the NOM technical specifications.
• Refer to the PHLX technical specifications.
• Refer to the OCC website.
• Contact NASDAQ OMX Global Data Products at +1 301 978 5307.