It has been a big week for Markit, the provider of derivatives data and OTC post trade processing services. First came the announcement that they had managed to poach Jeff Gooch from his post as Global Head of Fixed Income and OTC Derivative operations to become Head of Portfolio Valuation and Trade Processing. I think this is a boon for them for not only is it one in the eye for the behemoth that is Morgan Stanley (never a bad thing) but having spoken at several conferences alongside him I can confirm that he is sharp as a tack and will doubtless add greatly to the Markit's already talented team (and by the way I hope that the leg is healed after your skiing accident Jeff..). Secondly Markit were yesterday awarded the title of "Best Reference Data Provider" at the Inside market Data Awards for the (now) industry standard RED codes used throughout the CDS market. RED (or Reference Entity Database) identifiers have helped in no small way to improve the efficiency in post trade processing of credit defaults and they thoroughly deserve the plaudits.

Well it is a bank holiday here in the UK so it's unlikely to be a news-rich few days so I may try to take the opportunity to write up some opinions on new issues in the market - perhaps on the nascent property derivatives market.....