LONDON and NEW YORK, March 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, (NYSE:DJ) a leading global index provider, Markit Group Limited ("Markit"), the leading industry source for independent pricing and valuations, and CDS IndexCo, a consortium of sixteen investment banks, today announced that they have signed agreements governing the calculation, marketing and licensing of the Dow Jones CDX Indexes, the market-leading suite of North American and Emerging Market credit derivative indexes.
Under the terms of the separate agreements, Dow Jones Indexes has sole responsibility for branding and licensing the Dow Jones CDX Indexes, and assumes joint responsibility with CDS IndexCo for marketing the indexes. Dow Jones has approved the Dow Jones CDX Index methodology, and will continue to oversee and approve the creation of any new indexes. The Dow Jones CDX Index daily closing values will be available on both Dow Jones Indexes' website at www.djindexes.com and also on Markit's website www.markit.com.
Markit assumes sole responsibility for administering the Dow Jones CDX Indexes, which includes collecting source data, compiling, calculating and distributing the CDX daily closing values and publishing historical data on its website. Markit will act as adviser to CDS IndexCo on methodology, overseeing the index rolls, and is responsible for the day-to-day running of CDS IndexCo.
"Dow Jones Indexes brings an objective and rules-based approach to the credit derivative index business with the integrity that the market expects from a global index provider," said Kevin Pilarski, director of alternative strategies and derivatives at Dow Jones Indexes. "Since announcing the agreement, we have received tremendous interest from market participants in licensing the Dow Jones CDX Indexes to be used as underlying for investment products."
Kevin Gould, Executive Vice President of Markit said, "Markit is delighted to take on a pivotal role in the Dow Jones CDX Indexes. We bring to the table raw credit derivative knowledge, a depth of experience in data management and the skills to tackle the operational issues associated with credit index management. The role we play also dovetails nicely with the central role that our Reference Entity Database (RED) plays in ensuring the reference data in the indexes is both correct and market-standard."
The Dow Jones CDX Indexes were formed from the merger of the North American TRAC-X and iBoxx credit derivative indexes in April 2004. The creation of a single family of credit derivative indexes for North American and Emerging Market entities has enhanced the liquidity of the credit derivative market while providing a clear benchmark for credit investors.
The Dow Jones CDX family of credit derivative indexes are composed of corporate and sovereign entities domiciled in North America and Emerging Markets. Dow Jones CDX indexes include: Dow Jones CDX.NA.IG (Investment Grade), Dow Jones CDX.NA.IG.HVOL (High Volatility), Dow Jones CDX.NA.HY (High Yield), Dow Jones CDX.NA.HY.BB (High Yield, BB), Dow Jones CDX.NA.HY.B (High Yield, B), Dow Jones CDX.NA.HY Notes (High Yield Notes) and Dow Jones CDX.EM (Emerging Markets).
CDS IndexCo is a consortium of sixteen investment banks which are licensed to be market makers in the Dow Jones CDX indexes. The market makers include: ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia.
About CDS IndexCo
CDS IndexCo is a consortium of 16 investment banks which are licensed to be market makers in the Dow Jones CDX indexes. The market makers include: ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia.
About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes is a premier global provider of investable indexes, including the Dow Jones Averages, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50, the Dow Jones Asian Titans 50, the Dow Jones Sector Titans, the Dow Jones Country Titans Indexes and is co-owner of the Pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Indexes. Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information.
In addition to Dow Jones Indexes, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; dowjones.com) publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva, with Hearst of SmartMoney and with NBC Universal of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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 and OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, energy, power, metals and structured products), as well as dividend forecasting and index and ETF management.
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