Markit provides CDS transparency

Markit has launched a credit default swap (CDS) data and information portal designed to increase transparency and provide a way to monitor the market. The data portal, available online, gives details about a range of Markit's independent CDS data sets including prices for its CDS indices.

The website gives the last quote received by Markit before New York close of trading for approximately 450 of the most liquid CDS contracts, including G20 sovereigns, large financial corporations and components of the iTraxx and CDX indices.

The biggest daily single name CDS movers for North America, Europe and Asia as well as the daily Markit/ICE TrustTM CDS settlement prices for the most liquid Markit CDX index contracts listed for clearing by ICE Trust are also available.

"The CDS market is viewed as the barometer of health for the broad credit markets," said Armins Rusis, global co-head of fixed income at Markit. "It is therefore important to make information about this market as widely available as possible."

In a separate move Markit has announced the standard trading convention for the Markit CMBX indices will change to price from spread on April 20, 2009. The change applies to all Markit CMBX indices of every rating.

Markit CMBX dealers voted to change the standard trading convention in order to increase price transparency by making the upfront value of index contracts explicit.

The Markit CMBX is an index of CDS referencing 25 commercial mortgage-backed securities. The index provides investors with a standardised tool to gain synthetic exposure to the CMBS asset class.