Global financial services group Markit has acquired the ownership stake in MarkitSERV held by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
Markit and DTCC founded MarkitSERV in 2009 as a joint venture that combined the firms’ electronic trade processing services for OTC derivatives.
Terms of the deal are not disclosed. As a result of the acquisition, MarkitSERV will be wholly owned by Markit, but will remain an independent entity and will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, one of the successor regulators to the UK Financial Services Authority.
The acquisition further supports MarkitSERV’s legacy position in the electronic confirmations business, where it dominates market share in credit derivatives (89%), interest rate swaps (85%) and equity derivatives (72%). In foreign exchange, virtually all cleared volumes pass through MarkitSERV’s network.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of recent investments Markit has made in its processing business, which today includes Markit Clear, the electronic loan trade processing platform for syndicated loans, Markit Counterparty Manager, the document management software solution on Markit.com, the ISDA Amend solution, which provides internally updated ISDA agreements for all dealers and counterparty platforms, and the FATCA Service Bureau for fund administrators.
MarkitSERV has also launched MarkitSERV Credit Centre, a pre-trade credit checking solution for the OTC derivatives market. MarkitSERV Credit Centre provides clearing certainty for trades executed in electronic marketplaces, including swap execution facilities.
There will be no changes to the services provided by MarkitSERV to its more than 2,500 customers in the OTC derivatives industry.
Jeff Gooch will continue to be Chief Executive Officer of MarkitSERV and Global Head of Processing at Markit. No other staff changes are planned.