Creditex, Markit and Major Dealers Launch Tradeable Credit Fixings

Fixings Mark Significant Milestone in Credit Derivatives Market, Paving Way for Second Generation Products

London, 21 March 2005 - Creditex, Inc. ("Creditex") and Markit Group Limited ("Markit"), in cooperation with major credit derivatives dealers, today announced the launch of the Tradeable Credit Fixings ("Credit Fixings"). The launch marks a significant milestone in the development of the global credit derivatives market. Credit Fixings will provide additional transparency, liquidity, confidence and a market-supported reference rate to the rapidly growing credit default swap (CDS) market which broke through the USD 8 trillion mark at the end of 2004.

The Credit Fixings are similar in concept to the widely used British Bankers Association (BBA) LIBOR fixings for the interest rate swap market, which have been used for over 20 years. The Credit Fixings were designed with "tradeability" as a critical component in order to ensure that fixing levels are an accurate measure of market liquidity. Creditex and Markit worked closely with a panel of seven dealers - ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley - to develop and refine the Credit Fixings methodology. Credit Fixings have been in a live trial phase for the past six months with weekly fixings being determined for the three most liquid iTraxx indices.

Credit Fixings are being launched in the European marketplace with a North American launch expected at a later date. Dealers electronically contribute executable, two-way prices on the Creditex platform and these are used to determine bid, mid and offer fixings and any associated transactions. Markit oversees the process and disseminates official fixings levels via a freely accessible web page - www.creditfixings.com. Initially, Credit Fixings will take place once a week on Fridays at 11am GMT, with an additional fixing on the quarterly International Monetary Market (IMM) roll dates at 4pm GMT. The 4pm GMT time was chosen to allow the market to stabilise on the first day of an index roll. The first official live Credit Fixings will take place on March 21st, 2005 at 4pm GMT on the iTraxx 5yr Europe, HiVol and Crossover Series 2 and Series 3 indices.

"The introduction of tradeable, market-supported, transparent and fair Credit Fixings is an important and necessary next step in the evolution of the CDS market," said Mazy Dar, Head of Electronic Platforms at Creditex. "Credit Fixings will instill further confidence in the credit derivatives market."

Kevin Gould, Executive Vice President of Markit commented, "There is clear demand for the Credit Fixings, and the involvement of the most active market participants will ensure they become a widely used global reference and settlement rate. I have no doubt the Credit Fixings will spur the growth of the second generation credit derivatives market in the same way that LIBOR enabled the interest rate swap market to truly take off."

According to Dar and Gould, the launch of the Credit Fixings mark a significant milestone in the maturation process of the CDS market in that they will play an important role in helping to bring a new class of investor into the credit derivatives market. They said Credit Fixings will lay a solid foundation in the proliferation of second generation CDS products such as constant maturity credit default swaps (CMCDS), range accruals as well as an array of additional products that cannot be developed without a reliable, consistent and market-supported fixings process.

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Notes to editors

About Creditex

Creditex is the global market leader in e-trading of credit derivatives. The first e-trading platform in credit derivatives, Creditex is used by more than 800 credit derivatives traders at the world's top financial institutions. The platform has electronically executed over $200-billion notional in credit default swap (CDS) indices, single-name CDS and standardized structured credit products. In 2005, Creditex pioneered the first Tradeable Credit Fixings, a milestone in bringing additional confidence and transparency to the market by providing a standard benchmark and settlement rate. The firm is also leading the industry in "straight-through processing" initiatives, allowing its growing client base to reduce operational risk and transaction costs. Having received numerous accolades in leading financial media including Credit, Euromoney, Forbes, Institutional Investor and Risk, Creditex's technology continues to set the standard for innovation in the credit derivatives market. For more information, visit www.creditex.com.

About Markit

Markit is the leading industry source for asset valuation data and services supporting independent price verification and risk management in global financial and energy markets. Founded in 2001, the company is an independent enterprise with which the world's leading financial institutions and energy traders work strategically to create price transparency. Today, Markit enjoys the sponsorship of 13 financial institutions who manage assets in excess of $10 trillion, and data contribution relationships with over 45 dealing firms. Markit has designed, launched and acquired over 20 financial data services which are now used by over 300 institutions globally. Areas of product expertise and service include an independent valuation perspective on credit default swaps, syndicated loans, OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, energy, power, metals and structured products), as well as dividend forecasting and index and ETF management.