Markit

Background

Markit was founded in 2003 by Canadian Lance Uggla in St Albans, outside London, as Mark-it Partners to provide daily credit default swap (CDS) pricing.

Markit's credit derivative data sales rose during the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007 and later years.

In September 2009 Markit and Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) launched MarkitSERV, a joint venture to provide over-the-counter (OTC) derivative trade processing.

On May 5, 2014, Markit Ltd., a company registered in Bermuda, filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), to be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MRKT. The stock began trading on June 19, 2014 with an initial pricing of $24 per share.

Company performance

By 2009 Markit had "1,000 institutions as clients - including investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers, central banks, regulators, rating agencies, and insurance companies."

In 2012, the company had annual revenues of USD860 million, with 3000 employees. In 2012, Markit had a $5 billion valuation.

By 2013 Markit served 3,000 institutions across the financial markets which include investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers, central banks, regulators, auditors, fund administrators and insurance companies.

Acquisitions

Totem Valuations, a supplier of consensus valuations and month-end data, was bought by Markit in May 2004

The International Index Company (IIC) and CDS Index Company (CDSIndexCo), owners of the iTraxx and CDX credit default swap indexes, were acquired by Markit in November 2007

SwapsWire's acquisition by Markit announced In December 2007.,

The BOAT, Markets in Financial Instruments Directive-compliant trade reporting platform acquired by Markit from a consortium of nine investment banks In January 2008. The BOAT was owned by consortium of nine investment banks —ABN Amro, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS who had launched the system in September 2006.(Finextra 2008) The Boat platform was established by these nine banks "for the collection and sale of trading data following the introduction of EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in November 2007.

JPMorgan Chase's FCS Corporation, a provider of syndicated loan market portfolio and risk management software and services, including the Wall Street Office family of products, was acquired by Markit in July 2008.

Fidelity Information Services's ClearPar, an electronic loan-trade-processing platform, was acquired by Markit in October 2009 which helped Markit to work with DTCC to improve the processing of syndicated loans.

Index products

On 17 January 2006, CDS IndexCo and Markit launched ABX.HE, a subprime mortgage backed credit derivative index, with planned to extend the index to underlying asset types other than home equity loans. In a marketing presentation(2006 & Wiley) CDS IndexCo was described as the owner of the DJ CDX family of credit default swap (CDS) indices formed from a merger of the major CDS indices (iBoxx and Trac-X) in April 2004. It introduced a "second generation product such as index tranches and index options."(Wiley 2006) They launched the Home Equity (ABX.HE) ABX on 19 January 2006. Others, such as Credit Cards (ABX.CC), Student Loans (ABX.SL), Auto Loans (ABX.AU) were to be announced in the future. Advertised daily prices were available on the Markit website. The purpose of the indices is to allow investors to trade exposures to the subprime market without holding the actual asset backed securities. The ABX.HE Index was created from "qualifying deals of 20 of the largest sub-prime home equity ABS shelf programs from the six month period preceding the roll."(Wiley & 2006 11) The market makers of ABX.HE were listed JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, RBS Greenwich, UBS and Wachovia.(Wiley & 2006 13)

The Loan credit default swap index (LCDX), a loan-only credit default swap index was created in 2007 by CDS Index Company (CDSIndexCo). Forbes journalist described the creation of the index as just-in-time financial engineering. The LCDX provided protection for banks and hedge fund clients from the overly leveraged loan market.(2007 & Lenzer)

Sixteen major financial institutions, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, RBS Greenwich, UBS and Wachovia, owned the private company called the CDS Index Company (CDS IndexCo), that developed the ABX index on 17 January 2006. Markit Group Limited marketed the ABX index and by 2007 had acquired (CDS IndexCo). On 17 The ABX index was a credit default swap of asset-backed mortgages of 30 of the most liquid mortgage-backed bonds. Hedge funds began shorting that ABX index in early 2006 at par. The Deutsche Bank, alone, reportedly made $250 million.(2007 & Lenzer)

Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a derivatives exchange and clearing house operator, announced four credit index futures contracts, based on the Markit CDX and Markit iTraxx indices—Markit CDX NA IG, Markit CDX NA HY, Markit iTraxx Europe (Main), and Markit iTraxx Crossover, would start in May 2013. The contracts were subject to review by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Management and Employees

Markit had 150 employees in 2003, and by the end of 2013 had around 3200 employees across the Globe.

Management per June 2016:

Shareholders

In 2013, different banks held 51% of Markit shares.
20% of shares is held by Markit employees and executives.
As of October 2013, General Atlantic is the biggest independent shareholder with 11% of shares. General Atlantic’s CEO William E. Ford serves on the board of directors.
Temasek Holdings bought 10% of shares in 2013 for $500 million, thereby valuing the company at $5 bn.

Divisions, products and services

Markit organizes itself in three divisions:

Competitors

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