MARKIT ACQUIRES BOAT

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.