Markit RED CDS™
Markit RED (Reference Entity Database) CDS is the market standard that confirms the legal relationship between reference entities that trade in the credit default swap market and their associated reference obligations, known as “pairs”. Each entity is identified with a unique 6-digit alphanumeric code, and a 9-digit code identifies the pair. RED codes are widely and successfully used by CDS market participants to electronically match and confirm CDS transactions. The RED “preferred reference obligation” is the default reference obligation for CDS trades based on liquidity criteria.
Markit RED CDS provides confidence with market standard, scrubbed reference entity and obligation pairs:
- Covering thousands of scrubbed reference entity and obligation pairs
- Audited, accurate legal reference entity names
- Proprietary, tried and tested reference data scrubbing process
- Market standard CDX, iTraxx and LCDX credit index annexes
- Unique, 9-digit alpha-numeric CLIPS to identify a reference entity and obligation pair
- Complete re-scrubs at least annually or following a corporate event
Industry Integrity
An Advisory Board of leading credit market professionals oversees Markit RED CDS to continually ensure that the service meets the requirements of the subscribers. The CUSIP Service Bureau, with a long established history in providing unique numbering systems, determines the CLIPS that are assigned to the reference entities and their obligation pairs. Allen & Overy, a leading international law firm, manages the scrubbing process using its large global network. Markit RED CDS has been fully integrated with all widely used inter-dealer broker, trade execution, trade processing and market data platforms.
Why Markit RED CDS?
- RED minimises the operational risk of a mismatch between a reference entity and a reference obligation
- RED is a major factor in the reduction of internal legal and documentation costs, avoiding duplication of legal services across firms
- Over 10,000 unique 6-digit RED code identifiers
- Over 4,600 unique 9-digit RED code identifiers
- Track corporate actions & debt transfers
- Current reference data for the CDX, iTraxx and LCDX index families
- Three easy ways to obtain RED data: via the Markit website, XML downloads or via integration into your own in-house trading, risk management, operational and reference data systems
Web-based and XML Data Delivery
The Markit RED CDS data is available via the Markit website from three easy-to-use viewers. Alternatively, you can download RED CDS data in XML and integrate it into your in-house trading, risk management, operational and reference data systems.Click here to register your interest in this product


