About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

EDM Council Readies Industry Benchmarking Survey, Continues Semantics Repository Development

Subscribe to our newsletter

The EDM Council has been working in partnership with IT consultancy firm Headstrong to put together a global data management benchmarking survey, aimed at providing comparable metrics on the data management projects going on across the industry. The survey involved 65 firms and will be discussed at an upcoming launch event in New York in a couple of weeks’ time. In the meantime, the data management industry group has more than enough to be getting along with, given that the core of its semantics repository is nearing completion.

The industry group has been busy building on its semantics repository, which aims to standardise the terms and definitions of all reference data attributes stored in the master files of financial institutions, over the last couple of years and reference data terms for traded securities have been elevated to “beta” status. The initiative is now focused on the world of derivatives and terms for OTC derivatives, pricing and analytics are next in line for completion. Following the summer break, the group is therefore re-launching its related subject matter expert reviews to drive this work forward.

According to the EDM Council, a number of members are also using the repository as a basis on which to structure the upgrading of their own metadata repositories. The logic being that they are able to more easily deploy common data models within their institutions or consolidate their existing data resources by using the attributes contained within the semantics repository itself.

The group has also been working on a reference data proof of concept since August 2009 to demonstrate the viability of tagging financial contracts using standard semantics, based on its repository, and identifiers in support of risk analytics. Since last year, the group has worked alongside IBM and a number of other interested parties to document and define the mortgage backed securities (MBS) securitisation process from a data management point of view. The MBS semantic data model is now being incorporated into the repository and will be ready for industry comment in the next month, according to the group.

Given its championing of the National Institute of Finance (NIF) before its evolution into the Office of Financial Research, the EDM Council is also keenly involved in the discussions regarding the development of the US-based reference data utility. To this end, it is seeking input from its members in order to provide feedback to the regulatory community on reference data standards, including tags, identifiers and semantics.

The benchmarking report will be released on 15 September at an event in New York and will be followed by a presentation by Mike Atkin, managing director of the EDM Council, who will discuss the quantitative and qualitative findings, and a panel discussion. Check out the EDM Council website here for more details.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: An Agile Approach to Investment Management Platforms for Private Markets and the Total Portfolio View

11 June 2025 10:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes Data and operations professionals at private market institutions face significant data and analytical challenges managing private assets data. With investors clamouring for advice and analysis of private markets in their search for returns, investment managers are looking at ways to gain...

BLOG

Ensuring Data Integrity in Finance – A Foundation for Efficiency and Trust

By Neil Sandle, director of product management at Gresham. In today’s financial landscape, data integrity is more than a regulatory requirement — it is the backbone of efficient operations and trustworthy decision making. Ensuring that data remains accurate, consistent, and reliable throughout its lifecycle is essential for financial institutions looking to maintain operational excellence, manage...

EVENT

Buy AND Build: The Future of Capital Markets Technology

Buy AND Build: The Future of Capital Markets Technology London examines the latest changes and innovations in trading technology and explores how technology is being deployed to create an edge in sell side and buy side capital markets financial institutions.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...