The Derivatives Market Institute for Standards (DMIST) and FIA published a new industry standard on September 10, 2026, aimed at improving how execution source information is captured and preserved across exchange-traded derivatives markets.

The Execution Source Code Standard establishes common expectations for capturing, validating, transmitting and preserving execution source data throughout the trade lifecycle, addressing inconsistencies that can contribute to brokerage discrepancies, reconciliation breaks and manual intervention. Traders Magazine spoke with Staci Parrish, Vice President, Global Industry Ops and Execution at FIA, about what the standard changes from existing approaches, who is responsible for data accuracy and what it will take to achieve industry-wide adoption.

What problem is the Execution Source Code Standard intended to solve that existing approaches, including FIX Tag 1031, have not?

The industry has long had mechanisms such as FIA’s best practice schema for use of FIX Tag 1031 to identify execution source, but the DMIST standard addresses inconsistent implementation by establishing clear, end-to-end expectations for how execution source data is captured, validated, transmitted, and preserved across all participant types and technology platforms throughout the trade lifecycle.

Who should ultimately be responsible for ensuring the Execution Source Code is accurate at the point of execution?

Ultimately the executing broker ensures correctness, working with the order originator to capture the correct execution method.  

What will exchanges, clearing brokers and CCPs need to change to implement the standard?

Exchanges, CCPs, and clearing brokers will need to support the receipt, storage, and transmission of Execution Source Codes as authoritative reference data and ensure the information persists unchanged through downstream processing workflows.

How much could consistent execution source data reduce brokerage errors and manual reconciliation?

With broad adoption, the standard is designed to materially reduce brokerage discrepancies, reconciliation breaks, and manual exception handling by providing a consistent and reliable source of execution data across the industry.  Part of the implementation phase of this effort will be to benchmark current metrics and capture improvements over time.  

What are the biggest obstacles to achieving industry-wide adoption, particularly across different venues and technology systems?

The primary challenge is aligning implementation across a diverse ecosystem of exchanges, CCPs, brokers, clients, and technology providers that currently support execution source information with varying levels of consistency and automation

When do you expect Execution Source Code population to move from optional to mandatory, and how will DMIST measure adoption?

DMIST’s immediate focus is driving voluntary adoption, working with participants’ existing technology roadmaps and implementation plans to support a gradual transition toward mandatory population over time, while measuring adoption through ongoing engagement with market participants and tracking support across key firms and market infrastructures.

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