BOAT Enhances Offering Prior to Launch

London - BOAT, the MiFID-compliant trade reporting platform, today announced an enhanced product offering.

As part of a marketing initiative to demonstrate the value, accuracy and breadth of its data, BOAT will offer its real-time dataset free of charge to both potential and existing clients until 1 January 2008.

In addition, following extensive consultation of potential clients, market data vendors, trade associations, consultants and user groups, BOAT will provide a delayed datafeed which will be made available free of charge as from 1 January 2008.

More tailored, second generation products based on the core BOAT dataset will be added as MiFID unfolds and in direct response to client needs.

Will Meldrum, Managing Director and Head of BOAT at Markit, BOAT’s business partner, said:
“BOAT will allow market participants to gain a comprehensive view of the pan-European OTC equity markets for the first time. As this dataset is a completely new proposition, we think it important to offer it to potential and existing clients free of charge for a limited period. This will give end-users the opportunity to use the data and fully assess its value before it becomes a fee-paying service.

“BOAT aims to bring greater transparency to the OTC equity markets by making data available to as wide an audience as possible. With just over a fortnight to go until the launch of BOAT, we remain committed to an ongoing consultation process with clients and key stakeholders.”

BOAT is a pan-European trade reporting platform launched to address the regulatory changes brought about by MiFID. BOAT will enable market participants to report OTC trades in equities, in compliance with the directive, and will pool and disseminate both pre-trade quotes and post-trade reports.

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For more information please contact:

Caroline Lumley
Associate, Corporate Communications
Markit
Tel: +44 20 7260 2047
Email: caroline.lumley@markit.com

About BOAT

BOAT is a consortium of nine leading investment banks (ABN AMRO, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS) 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.

For more information, see www.markit.com/boat

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