1. Introduction

Deutsche Börse plans to introduce T7 Release 13.0 on 18 November 2024 for the trading venues Xetra and Börse Frankfurt. The simulation period for T7 Release 13.0 is planned to start on 9 September 2024.

This circular provides T7 Trading Participants with the T7 Release 13.0 timeline, planned scope and the communication schedule.

The following enhancements will be introduced in T7 Release 13.0:

• Xetra Midpoint

• MiFID II/MiFIR order flagging requirements: 
  Enhancements of the Short Code (SC) and Algo ID solution

• ISV and Software Registration process

Simulation start: 9 September 2024
Production start: 18 November 2024

2. Required action

Trading Participants are requested to initiate the preparatory steps to ensure software readiness for the new T7 Release 13.0 on 18 November 2024.

3. Details of the initiative

A. Introduction schedule and Communication Calendar for T7 Release 13.0

Please refer to the attachment for the Introduction Schedule and the Communication Calendar. 

The Communication Calendar lists all important dates on which documents for T7 Release 13.0 will be published, including existing documents that will be revised for T7 Release 13.0.

In June 2024, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (FWB^®, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) will publish the detailed preliminary Release Notes listing the functional and technical enhancements that will be available in T7 Release 13.0.

Deutsche Börse will provide a dedicated release simulation environment to give Trading Participants and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) the opportunity to perform comprehensive testing of their trading applications, independent of the T7 production. 

In addition to the T7 Release Simulation, Trading Participants can also use the T7 Cloud Simulation that allows Trading Participants and ISVs to test against the current T7 production and simulation software versions. In this environment, Trading Participants can initiate predefined market scenarios and test-specific strategies more easily than in a shared environment. The T7 Cloud Simulation is permanently available (24/7) for a fixed price per hour and is accessible using an SSL-encrypted internet connection. The T7 Cloud Simulation will start in advance of the usual Release Simulation and will be offered free of charge for the month of August 2024. With this waiver, Deutsche Börse aims to incentivize early development and testing before the start of the regular T7 simulation. 

For more information on the T7 Cloud Simulation, please refer to the Xetra website www.xetra.com under the following path:

Technology > T7 trading architecture > Cloud Simulation

B. Scope of T7 Release 13.0

The following paragraphs provide an overview of the functional enhancements which will be introduced in T7 Release 13.0:

Xetra Midpoint

With T7 Release 13.0, Xetra (MIC: XETR) will offer Xetra Midpoint trading, a new execution service at the midpoint price between the real-time Best Bid and Offer (BBO) price taken from Xetra’s central limit orderbook (CLOB). The Xetra Midpoint order book is dark. The new Xetra Midpoint service offers midpoint orders that will only be executed within the midpoint order book and sweep orders, i.e. an optional insertion of any residual quantity of that order into the lit Xetra CLOB as a synchronized service within one transaction in Xetra. Due to the synchronisation, there will be no latency disadvantage compared to an order which will be directly inserted into the Xetra CLOB. Thus, Xetra Midpoint service will be highly consistent, easy to implement, and ready to use.

This integrated solution at the heart of price discovery for German instruments facilitates midpoint trading without cross-venue latency arbitrage and with superior execution quality. The Xetra Midpoint orderbook will be exempted from pre-trade transparency by a Reference Price Waiver according to MiFIR.

With Xetra Midpoint, Deutsche Börse will extend the range of trading models available on its market, giving Trading Participants an additional option to source distinct liquidity. Trading Participants will have the option to use dark midpoint orders to minimize the market impact and information leakage, as well as dark-lit sweep orders offering the opportunity for a price improvement on aggressive flow by first being evaluated for execution in the Xetra Midpoint orderbook and then in the Xetra CLOB.

It will be possible to send midpoint orders and sweep orders with an order limit preventing execution at the midpoint price in case it exceeds the order limit. For sweep orders, the order limit would also be valid in the CLOB.

Matching will be performed according to the volume-time priority and under the consideration of optionally user-defined Minimum Acceptable Quantities (MAQs). MAQs will be optional safeguards defined per individual order to avoid sniffing and information leakage. Midpoint executions of orders will not occur below the defined MAQ of these orders. The Xetra Midpoint matching algorithm will be designed to maximize the total executable volume each time a new midpoint or sweep order is entered or each time the BBO constellation in the CLOB changes, resulting in a new midpoint price.

Xetra Midpoint trading will be made available to all Trading Participants without the necessity to file for activation. 

The tradeable instruments will be selected equities and ETFs in which Xetra is the most relevant market in terms of Liquidity as classified by ESMA. Availability for midpoint trading will be indicated in the Xetra instrument reference data. Dedicated segment MIC codes for midpoint trades under the operating MIC XETR will be provided.

MiFID II/MiFIR order flagging requirements: Enhancements of the Short Code (SC) and Algo ID solution

With T7 Release 13.0, report enhancements will be introduced that aim to provide Trading Participants with more frequent feedback and to assist in the resolution of missing SCs and Algo IDs, upload errors, and a comprehensive registration and maintenance process of SCs and Algo IDs.

The enhancements will be implemented in the reports listed below, including a new structure and three new intraday versions that will be provided in addition to the already existing end-of-day reports:

• TR160 Identifier Mapping Error
• TR161 Identifier Mapping Status
• TR162 Algo HFT Error
• TR163 Algo HFT Status

In addition, the new report “TR169 Final Error Ongoing Corrections” will be introduced to facilitate the provision of missing SC data in an ongoing manner and to provide Trading Participants with a convenient process to fulfil data provision obligations.

ISV and Software Registration process

Deutsche Börse will implement a new process for registering Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Additionally, Deutsche Börse will introduce a new process for registering third-party software offered by ISVs and in-house software developed by Trading Participants which is used to connect ETI and FIX LF sessions. Consequently, each Trading Participant and ISV will have to enhance the details on software usage in the Member Section on a session level for ETI and FIX LF Sessions. Implementation of the new registration processes will take place in a staggered approach. More information will be provided on a dedicated Support page in due time.

C. T7 Releases in 2025

Deutsche Börse plans to launch two T7 releases in 2025. In order to ease the planning of participants, Deutsche Börse already provides the intended dates for the releases in the T7 release announcement 13.0. T7 Release 13.1 is planned to be introduced on 19 May 2025 whereas T7 Release 14.0 is scheduled for 10 November 2025.

Attachment: 

• Introduction Schedule and Communication Calendar for T7 Release 13.0 

Further information