CDS IndexCo and Markit Launch Synthetic CMBS Index; CMBX, a Commercial Mortgage-Backed Credit Derivative Index, Gives Investors Exposure to U.S. Commercial Mortgages.

NEW YORK -- CDS IndexCo LLC ("CDS IndexCo"), a consortium of 16 investment banks licensed as market makers in the ABX and Dow Jones CDX indexes, and Markit Group Limited ("Markit"), the leading industry source of independent mark-to-market pricing and valuations, announced today the launch of CMBX, a synthetic index of U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The following institutions are market-makers in the index: Bank of America; Bear Stearns; Citigroup; Credit Suisse; Deutsche Bank; Goldman Sachs; JPMorgan; Lehman Brothers; Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley; Nomura International; RBS Greenwich Capital; UBS; and Wachovia. Trading will start on March 7, 2006.

Markit is the administration, calculation, and marketing agent for CMBX, and will serve as the central source of information about the index. Responsible for the index's rules, operations and analytics, Markit will publish daily prices on its website, provide monthly fixed and floating payment amounts, and supply a calculator for the settlement of trades.

Valuations analytics will be made freely available on www.markit.com and will utilize cashflows from Trepp, the leading provider of CMBS and commercial mortgage information, analytics and technology to the securities and investment management community. Markit will negotiate dealer and data licenses; produce marketing materials; and communicate information to the wider market.

CMBX consists of five traded index tranches. Similar to the ABX index which launched in January this year, the index family consists of five indices based on the 25 most recent CMBS deals. The minimum deal size is $700 million, and one bond from each deal will be referenced in each index.

The five indices, which are equally weighted at index launch(1), are based on the rating of the reference obligations, and reference AAA, AA, A, BBB and BBB- rated tranches. Ratings are required from at least two of the following rating agencies: Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's.

Each index consists of a standardized basket of CMBS reference obligations which are selected through an algorithm that identifies the most recently issued deals that meet specific size and diversity criteria. In order to qualify for index selection, the following rules apply: Deals must be secured by at least 50 separate mortgages that are obligations of at least 10 unaffiliated borrowers; no more than 40% of the underlying mortgages can be secured by properties in the same state; and no more than 60% of the properties can be of the same property type. Markit then polls the CMBX dealer group to verify the basket's liquidity.

As with ABX, a new series of CMBX indices will be issued every six months. CMBX is based on the standard ISDA Pay-As-You-Go template.

Bradford S. Levy, Managing Director, Firmwide eBusiness Group at Goldman Sachs and acting Chairman of CDS IndexCo, stated: "The market for CDS of CMBS has been growing rapidly for several months and we expect CMBX to provide market participants with new ways to take synthetic exposure to the CMBS market. CMBX is a tradable benchmark that will give clients a liquid and standardized tool for trading and structuring."

"CMBX has been designed to provide investors with an efficient means to gain diversified exposure to the U.S. CMBS market. The standardized nature of the index, coupled with the fact that trades can be confirmed through DTCC, will pave the way for a liquid and operationally efficient market," added Kevin Gould, Executive Vice President and Head of Data Products and Analytics at Markit.

About CDS IndexCo

CDS IndexCo is a consortium of 16 investment banks which are licensed as market makers in the ABX and Dow Jones CDX indexes. The market makers include: ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia.

About Markit Group Limited

Markit Group Limited ("Markit") is the benchmark industry source of independent pricing and valuations for the global financial and energy markets. Markit has data contributed by over 50 dealing firms, and its services are used by 400 institutions globally. Areas of product expertise include OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, inflation, energy, power, metals and structured products), corporate bonds, syndicated loans, dividend forecasting, and index and ETF management.

Markit has most recently brought price transparency to the European asset-backed securities market with the launch of the first independent ABS pricing service. Its position in the derivatives markets has been acknowledged by the industry with awards from Risk Magazine for Trading Initiative of the Year 2006 (Credit Event Fixings); Structured Finance International's Editor's Award for Advancing Structured Finance 2006; International Securitisation Report's Editor's Award for Innovation 2005; International Financing Review's Innovation of the Year 2005 (Credit Event Fixings); Financial News' Best Derivatives Data Provider 2005; and Institutional Investor's Operations Management Award for Vendor of the Year 2005.

www.markit.com

(1) Subsequent weightings may change based on the performance of loans in the underlying pools.