In Brief: OneSource Adds XML to Developers’ Toolkit

OneSource Information Services has launched version 2.0 of its AppLink software development kit, adding several capabilities enabled by the use of XML. AppLink is one of a suite of OneSource services that connect OneSource content with customer data, making both more useful to clients. By adding XML to the AppLink kit, OneSource clients will be able to deliver tables of contents for news, articles and analyst reports found using text searches on the OneSource database. According to Chris Hart, U.K. operations manager of insurer Royal & Sun Alliance, AppLink 2.0 has increased the speed the firm’s underwriters can access company information. “We get high-quality, recommended premiums immediately, while the brokers are sitting at the desk with the underwriter…. We can quickly make decisions about doing business with prospects, assessing the level of risk and determining appropriate terms.”

In Brief: Standard & Poor’s Unveils XML-Based Industry Classifications

A new historical database of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) codes, originally developed by Standard & Poor’s and Morgan Stanley Capital International in 1999, will be accessible in XML format. Standard & Poor’s released the new GICS History service this past week. It provides GICS codes for a range of U.S. and Canadian companies and ADRs. The service carries historical codes for more than 20,000 active and inactive companies, with the amount of history varying by company, in many cases dating back to 1985. GICS History was developed in conjunction with Standard & Poor’s Compustat, a provider of company fundamental data. In its XML format, the service will allow structured use of the codes in such applications as statistical analysis, back-testing and historic sector performance attribution. Standard & Poor’s is releasing the product in ASCII format also, and expects to make it available via major data vendors in the future.

In Brief: Microsoft Unveils XML-Based STP Application

Microsoft last week released its BizTalk Accelerator, a middleware application designed to help financial institutions integrate financial messaging with internal systems. The new system supports the ISO15022 Swift messaging standard, due to come into effect next week, and will support the expected XML incarnation, as well as a raft of other XML-based standards. The system enables institutions to manage exceptions, rationalize reference data, detect and repair faulty messages, and build Swift- and FIX-compatible systems. The first version of BizTalk Accelerator includes over 90 document schemas describing Swift and other messaging formats for payments, foreign exchange, securities trading and reporting.