Reuters and GFI strike credit derivatives data partnership

Global information company Reuters has signed an exclusive deal with New York-based inter-broker GFI to provide GFI's credit derivatives data and Fenics credit pricing tools through Reuters 3000 Xtra, Reuters Bridgestation and Reuters Trader terminals.

Reuters will offer clients access to prices and trade data from GFI’s full database of 1,800 reference entities supplemented by independently generated curves from Fenics Credit.

A GFI credit reference page will be available free to subscribers of Reuters' desktop products. This lists five-year credit default swap spreads for 50 credits covering a diversified range of sectors and regions. The page also lists the ‘most active’, ‘newly active’ and ‘biggest movers’ of the day. The service will be rolled out over the summer, said Tim Mercer, director in fixed income for Europe at Reuters.

The credit derivatives market is one of the fastest growing derivatives markets. Risk magazine's annual credit derivatives survey estimates the market to currently be in the region of $2.3 trillion, a 50% increase on the previous year's figure.

Reuters' move to expand its fixed income and credit derivatives product lines comes at a time when more market participants are taking an integrated approach to assessing their debt management activity. "The corporate bond and equity markets are converging and it's become increasingly important to look at all the available data points," said Mercer.