Markit (Nasdaq: MRKT), a leading global diversified provider of financial information services, has announced the launch of new software and services that enable banks and other financial institutions to host and manage instant message chat rooms.
Markit’s new software gives financial institutions direct access to the content in chat rooms they host, and complete control over information security. Chat rooms created using the software will be connected to Markit’s open Collaboration Services network and will be accessible to financial market professionals using a variety of messaging technologies. Today, more than 220,000 industry professionals are connected by Collaboration Services.
In addition, Markit provides fully integrated identity management services facilitated by the Collaboration Services Directory, ensuring firms can verify the identity of all chat room participants, prior to and during sessions, and control access to chat rooms.
Kevin McPartland, head of market structure and technology research at Greenwich Associates, said: “Instant messaging is core to how business gets done on Wall Street and technology that enables people using different platforms to access the same chat room can make a range of front and back office processes more efficient.At the same time, new ways to give compliance and risk officers greater control over who has access to chat rooms, and what is being said, should be welcomed by the industry.”
Andrew Eisen, managing director and head of Collaboration Services at Markit, said: “Use of chat rooms has been scrutinised by regulators and the industry, but banning chat is not the answer.Markit’s solution makes it possible to manage chat rooms across federated platforms in a compliant manner, a first for the industry. This means chat rooms will now be accessible to professionals throughout the enterprise and broader industry, regardless of the messaging system they use.” 
Markit’s chat room software uses standard protocols that are compatible with active and passive compliance software and e-discovery tools. 
Collaboration Services is an open messaging network launched by Markit in partnership with Thomson Reuters and eight global banks in October 2013.The network enables financial market professionals to send instant messages and use chat rooms securely across disparate messaging platforms.