Cinnober acquires BOAT from Markit — independent European trade reporting service is here to stay

Cinnober Financial Technology today announced the acquisition of Markit Trade Reporting (“BOAT”) from Markit with Cinnober taking full control of BOAT’s European trade reporting service as of July 1st. Earlier this year, Markit announced plans to discontinue the trade reporting service. However, with significant market demand for an independent trade reporting service and an extensive client base, Cinnober has decided to acquire BOAT. Cinnober has provided the core technology and operated the BOAT platform since its inception in 2007. 

“This acquisition reflects our long-term strategy to increase our footprint in providing services to banks and brokers,” said Cinnober’s CEO Veronica Augustsson. “The BOAT platform has huge potential for further development and the demand for a continued service and a broader offering is very high according to discussions we’ve had with customers. More than 40 leading investment firms and MTFs currently report trades and quotes to BOAT, which is more than any other platform. We fully expect that number to increase as we build on the service offerings.”

BOAT is a MiFID-compliant trade reporting platform that enables MTFs and investment firms to meet their pre-trade quoting and post-trade reporting obligations for all their European OTC cash equity trades. BOAT collects, collates, validates and stores OTC trade data and publishes it to the market in real time.

Mark Schaedel, managing director of equities at Markit, said: “We believe the sale of BOAT to Cinnober is in the best interests of customers as it provides a seamless transition for their trading reporting requirements. We have a long-standing relationship with Cinnober and are pleased that they will continue to provide the service.”

“The reasons why BOAT was set up in the first place under MiFID are still very pertinent today, which is why the customers we have spoken to have had a very positive response to the service continuing under Cinnober,” says Jamie Khurshid, CEO of Cinnober’s BOAT Services. “The transition in ownership will have no effect on current operations for customers and we will offer cost-effective and independent services. The Cinnober product portfolio covers the entire trade lifecycle, from price discovery, real-time risk management, compliance and surveillance, through to our world-leading clearing capabilities, all of which can be added as services to the BOAT platform to increase the value of the offering to our customers.”

Jamie Khurshid added: “We see BOAT as a perfect fit for us to be able to offer world-class technology and services to the banking and broking communities using this service.”

Christian Katz, CEO of SIX Swiss Exchange said: “We welcome the seamless transition and a continuity of service offering this transaction offers, which enables our mutual members to continue to meet their reporting obligations”.

BOAT was founded in 2006 by a consortium of banks in order to create a neutral hub in conjunction with the introduction of MiFID and other market regulations. Its technical solution, based on Cinnober TRADExpress, has been in operation since 2007. BOAT was sold to Markit in 2007 and was subsequently rebranded to Markit Trade Reporting.

Since its inception 15 years ago, Cinnober has established a world-leading position within financial technology for marketplaces and clearinghouses. Current customers include major global players with extremely high demands for reliability and performance, such as BM&FBOVESPA, Deutsche Börse, Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange, the London Metal Exchange, LME Clear, Quadriserv, MarkitSERV and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Given the current regulatory climate, the company’s customer profile is naturally broadening to include banks and brokers.