FT Interactive Data Introduces SIRS Intra-Day; SIRS is No Longer Just an End-of-Day Service

Business Wire, July 27, 2004

BEDFORD, Mass. -- FT Interactive Data, Interactive Data Corporation's major operating subsidiary (NYSE: IDC), and a leading supplier of financial information to global markets, has introduced SIRS Intra-Day(TM), which delivers the popular Securities Information Retrieval Service (SIRS) data files at scheduled times throughout the day.

FT Interactive Data's SIRS(TM) product, which provides descriptive data for a universe of fixed income and equity securities, can now be delivered to clients via SIRS Intra-Day at five convenient service intervals throughout the day.

"Our long-standing SIRS product has provided descriptive data for a universe of fixed income and equity securities to financial institutions for more than a decade," says Spencer Gallagher, director of the Reference Data Group for FT Interactive Data. "The introduction of SIRS Intra-Day answers our clients' call for more frequent updates of descriptive data throughout the day. SIRS Intra-Day makes it easier for companies to increase operational efficiencies and reduce error-prone manual set-up through the automated addition of new securities data."

With SIRS Intra-Day, clients can receive data more frequently throughout the day for such asset categories as North American equities, UITs, corporate, government, and agency debt, CDs and municipal bonds. For mortgage-backed, pass-through securities, data will be delivered early in the day while non-North American securities will frequently be delivered before end-of-day.

SIRS Intra-Day allows clients to improve the quality of their master files by incorporating automated content changes throughout the day. In addition, SIRS Intra-Day offers full upward compatibility with the existing SIRS 80-character, fixed field product and unique file naming conventions to help identify and manage multiple intra-day files.

About FT Interactive Data

FT Interactive Data is a leading provider of financial information and analytical software to global markets. FT Interactive Data supplies global securities pricing, evaluations, dividend, corporate action and descriptive information designed to support mutual funds' pricing activities, securities operations, research, and portfolio management. The company collects, edits, maintains, and delivers data on more than 3.5 million securities, including daily evaluations for more than 2.5 million fixed income issues. FT Interactive Data specializes in "hard-to-value" instruments and "hard-to-get" information from emerging markets. The company also provides index and constituent data to the international investment community.

Through CMS BondEdge, an affiliate of FT Interactive Data, the company is a recognized leader and independent source of fixed income portfolio analytics, risk management tools and quantitative research.

FT Interactive Data is the major operating division of Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading global provider of financial and business information to institutional and individual investors. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Interactive Data Corporation has approximately 1,700 employees in offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit us at www.FTInteractiveData.com.

Interactive Data Corporation is approximately 60 percent owned by Pearson plc and included within its Financial Times Group. Other Financial Times Group companies include the Financial Times newspaper, FT.com and Financial Times Business. Pearson plc is an international media company with market leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing.