Markit Acquires BOAT
London – Markit, the leading provider of independent data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing to the global financial markets, today announced that it has acquired 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 (OTC) trades in equities, BOAT offers an unparalleled view of the European OTC equity markets. Trades reported on the platform now account for approximately 25% of the entire European equity markets. Prior to MiFID and the launch of BOAT, OTC trade information in certain countries was not readily available, making it difficult for market participants to understand fully how the OTC markets were moving.
Niall Cameron, Executive Vice President and Head of Equities and Indices at Markit, commented: “BOAT fits neatly with Markit’s goal to bring transparency to the OTC markets. 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.”
Will Meldrum, Managing Director and Head of BOAT at Markit, commented: “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.”
Niki Beattie, Managing Director and Head of EMEA Market Structure, Merrill Lynch, commented: “BOAT shows how consortium-led initiatives can bring efficient solutions to the global financial markets. Having launched successfully in November - just over a year after we announced the creation of the consortium - BOAT is going from strength to strength and provides critical information on a growing share of the OTC markets. Markit, as the consortium’s business partner, is the ideal candidate to take ownership of BOAT.”
The BOAT platform went live on 1 November 2007, allowing market participants to publish their pre-trade quotes and report their OTC trades in equities in compliance with MiFID. BOAT collects and validates this information before disseminating it to the market via ten leading market data vendors.
BOAT will now be known as Markit BOAT.
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For further information, please contact:
Teresa Chick
Managing Director, Corporate Communications
Markit
Tel: +44 20 7260 2094
Email: teresa.chick@markit.com
Caroline Lumley
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Markit
Tel: +44 20 7260 2047
Email: caroline.lumley@markit.com
About Markit
Markit is the leading provider of independent data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing to the global financial markets. The company 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.
For more information, see www.markit.com
About BOAT
BOAT is a consortium of nine leading investment banks that was launched in September 2006 in order to create a central platform for the collection, collation, validation, storage and distribution of pre- and post-trade information as required by investment firms operating off-exchange as allowed under MiFID.