How FIA’s trade data network gives firms greater control over their ETD operations

FIA Tech CEO Nick Solinger outlines how the firm's Trade Data Network (TDN) is designed to automate increasingly complex post-trade processes in exchange-traded derivatives (ETD) and give hedge fund operations teams greater control over their workflows. TDN is a real-time post-trade network built on a shared ledger that connects buy-side clients, executing brokers, clearing brokers and central counterparties (CCPs). It provides a consistent workflow for monitoring post-trade events from execution through allocation and clearing confirmation, including fees and commissions, with integrated exception management.

According to Solinger, the network's three main differentiators in North America are industry-wide connectivity, a shared and permissioned source of trade data, and deep ETD expertise combined with automation. FIA Tech, which he describes as the industry's go-to source for symbology, exchange fees, commissions and product reference data, uses that reference data to identify risks, resolve breaks and manage fees. Solinger says TDN's matching and reconciliation capabilities eliminate false breaks, allowing operations teams to view risk in real time.

Solinger points to growing futures volumes, a steady shift from OTC to exchange-traded instruments, sustained market volatility, and a rising number of hedge funds trading futures on physical commodities as drivers of demand for operational resilience. He also cites investor pressure on managers to demonstrate stronger controls over trade breaks, fees, positions and lifecycle events.

FIA Tech's stated priorities include collaboration tools for break management with counterparties, with direct integration into FCM and broker exception management systems planned for 2027, and intelligent break resolution that assigns each break to the party that originated it. The first such workflow, FeeCompare, is described as a four-way reconciliation. The company also expanded TDN to cover lifecycle events such as option expiry, exercise, delivery and position transfers, and its TDN Working Group is working on an industry standard for instructing these events across clearing firms, which it expects to launch in early 2027.

Solinger says that throughout 2026 TDN clients achieved T+0 match rates of 99.83%, and that high-volume days, including those during the Iran war outbreak, were processed as routine operations. He says the platform gives firms visibility into where trades sit in the post-trade process and prioritizes exceptions by clearing deadline and age. FeeCompare independently calculates expected fees and commissions using FIA Tech reference data and compares them against client and clearing broker figures.