Federated Clearing Services, which is a unit of Federated Investors, is launching a new web-based communication software, Rex Althoff, senior vice president and chief information officer with the firm's business information systems unit, told the MutualFundWire.com. The new system bears the title Federated Data Exchange (FDX).

FDX is Microsoft Windows-based, and it utilizes 128-bit Internet Protocol technology. The intent here is to replace modem-based systems for sending and retrieving trades, settlement, and position. The firm also contends that it has a multi-tasking feature which allows users to work on a number of different projects at the same time.

"We have been beta testing the FDX for about a year. We began developing it in early 2001. We have a number of alliances. And so with those alliances, we identified a customer or a group of customers to the test the system on. We took the time because this was a whole change of protocol. And we were not in race to get in done. It was more important to be right than fast," Althoff contended.

At this point, 100 percent of the firm's customers have been converted over to FDX. "We are not doing any marketing for this specifically. FDX is designed to support all of our product offerings. It is an extension of what we do," he added.

"It is designed to be flexible," the executive concluded. "We can add new lines of business to it, or we can add alliance partners."

The firm reports that it settles 2,000 trades -- mostly omnibus trades -- a day. 

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