Markit Group Limited, a provider of independent data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing to the global financial markets, has launched the first independent, daily consensus spread service for CDS of ABS.
CDS of ABS, also known as ABCDS, are credit default swaps referencing asset backed securities.
Markit launched the service to increase transparency and foster growth in the increasingly dynamic structured finance markets, it said in a statement.
“We are launching the first daily CDS of ABS mark-to-market service in direct response to approaches by a number of key buy- and sell-side firms who are increasingly frustrated with the fragmented, inconsistent process of marking their CDS of ABS assets,” says Kevin Gould, executive vice president and head of data products and analytics at Markit. “Markit’s service is designed to offer accurate CDS of ABS spread data which will form the key element to enable independent trade valuations. We expect this to encourage the growth of the market, and we look forward to bringing new contributors and subscribers onto the service in the coming months.”