Creditex and Markit Announce Results of Credit Event Fixings For Defaulted Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines Bonds

Credit Event Fixings Confirmed as an Integral Part of Market Infrastructure

London/New York, 11 October 2005 - Creditex, Inc. ("Creditex") and Markit Group Limited ("Markit"), in partnership with major credit derivative dealers, have successfully conducted a Credit Event Fixing today to generate cash settlement prices for the defaulted bonds of Delta Airlines, Inc. and Northwest Airlines, Inc. Both these issuers filed for bankruptcy on September 14, 2005 and are included in various credit derivative indices published by Dow Jones CDX and TRAC-X. At 10:00 am EST, the final price for certain Delta Airlines, Inc. bonds fixed at 18.000%. At 11:00 am EST, the final price for certain Northwest Airlines, Inc. bonds fixed at 28.000%.

The Credit Event Fixings are being used as part of a Protocol developed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) in consultation with dealers and the broader market. The Fixings held today will facilitate the settlement of credit derivative index contracts that include Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, and offer market participants an efficient way to address the settlement issues relating to trades on credit derivative indices that include these issuers. The Protocol enables institutions to amend their documentation for such index trades from physical to cash settlement with the Credit Event Auction determining the final cash settlement price for the Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines contracts.

"Since their launch in March this year, the Credit Event Fixings have proven to be an effective trade settlement solution in the event of bankruptcy in the corporate bond markets. The settlement price established by the Fixings for defaulted corporate bonds provides the market with a transparent, reliable means of ensuring smooth cash settlement of related credit derivative transactions," said Kevin Gould, Executive Vice President and Head of Data Products and Analytics at Markit.

Commented Mazy Dar, Head of Electronic Platforms at Creditex, "Establishing a consistent way of dealing with cash settlement for bonds in default is highly beneficial for the industry, particularly as it continues to experience strong expansion. This combined, multi-dealer initiative is a response to the market need for a robust and truly independent methodology to determine cash settlement prices."

Earlier this year, the first-ever Tradeable Credit Fixings for the European credit derivative market were held to determine the cash settlement prices for the Collins & Aikman defaulted bonds in June 2005. During that process, more than 500 institutions utilized the Credit Event Fixings to cash settle their credit derivative contracts.

The Credit Event Fixings require participating dealers to commit to trade with each other on the Creditex electronic trading platform at their submitted levels. The methodology is designed to ensure a transparent and fair fixing which is representative of the trading market level. Markit verifies the process to guarantee the integrity of the fixings, and disseminates the prices that are made freely available on www.creditfixings.com

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 $0.5 trillion 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.

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 50 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 OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, energy, power, metals and structured products), corporate bonds, syndicated loans, dividend forecasting, and index and ETF management. For more information about Markit, see www.markit.com

Tradeable Credit Fixings Press and Client Contact information:

Creditex

Mazy Dar (London) +44 207 400 7383
Annette Bronkesh (NY) +1 973 778 8648

Markit

Kevin Gould (NY) +1 212 931 4901
Teresa Chick (London) +44 (0)20 7890 5094