Markit, a provider of independent data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing to the global financial markets, says it plans to launch new products following its acquis
Markit, a provider of independent data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing to the global financial markets, says it plans to launch new products following its acquisition of Boat, the MiFID-compliant trade reporting platform, from the consortium of nine investment banks that launched the initiative in September 2006.
With 24 of the world’s leading financial institutions using the platform to report their over-the-counter trades in equities, trades reported on the Boat platform now account for some 25 per cent of the entire European equity markets.
Before the introduction of the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the launch of Boat last November, OTC trade information was not readily available in certain countries, making it difficult for participants to understand fully how the OTC markets were moving.
‘Boat fits neatly with Markit’s goal to bring transparency to the OTC markets,’ says Niall Cameron, executive vice-president and head of equities and indices at Markit. ‘As calls for greater transparency multiply, we see this acquisition as very timely. It will also reinforce Markit’s position in the equity markets and our footprint within the financial sector.’
Says Will Meldrum, a managing director and head of Boat at Markit: ‘Boat is already changing the way market participants make investment decisions in the European OTC equity markets. We look forward to launching second-generation products in the coming months to enhance our clients’ trading and investment operations.’
The Boat platform went live on November 1 last year, allowing market participants to publish their pre-trade quotes and report their OTC trades in equities in compliance with the EU directive. Boat collects and validates this information before disseminating it to the market via ten leading market data vendors.
Markit receives daily data contributions from 90 dealing firms, and its services are used by almost 1,000 institutions to enhance trading operations, reduce risk and manage compliance. Boat was launched as a consortium of nine investment banks to create a central platform for the collection, collation, validation, storage and distribution of pre- and post-trade information as required by MiFID from investment firms operating off-exchange.
