New Monthly Market Data Report and Assumptive Data for Structured Securities Can Help Clients Prepare for FAS 157-4; Company Also Expands Coverage of Mortgage-Backed Securities
Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, today announced that its Pricing and Reference Data business has broadened its Evaluated Services capabilities for clients.
Interactive Data has launched a new monthly market data report to help clients prepare for fair value measurements under the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Staff Position (FSP) FAS 157-4. FSP FAS 157-4 provides additional guidance to preparers of financial statements for determining when the volume and level of activity for an asset or liability have significantly decreased and for identifying transactions that are not orderly. Interactive Data was one of nearly 350 organizations and individuals that responded to FASB’s request for comments to the proposed FSP FAS 157-e, which was adopted as FSP FAS 157-4. To view Interactive Data’s comment letters to FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), please click here. FAS 157-4 can be viewed by clicking here.
Interactive Data’s monthly market data report contains information regarding market activity in different asset classes including U.S. corporate bonds, U.S. municipal bonds, and U.S. asset-backed and mortgage-related securities. This report is available free of charge to Interactive Data’s Evaluated Services clients. A key tenet of Interactive Data’s evaluations process is to review market information and identify activity that may not be indicative of orderly transactions.
In addition to the monthly market data report, clients can also now submit and track evaluation inputs requests online via Interactive Data’s 360ViewSM service. With 360View, clients can also review key assumptive data used in the evaluation process for structured securities including collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), asset-backed securities (ABS) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
Interactive Data has also expanded its evaluations capabilities by adding new coverage for mortgage-backed securities. The Company has added coverage for 18 new pool types, totalling 1,625 securities — including securities backed by relocation and jumbo loans.
“Our Evaluated Services team continues to respond quickly to our clients’ needs by providing a variety of expanded services and broader coverage to assist with fair value measurements and to help clients determine valuations for a wider variety of complex securities,” said Shant Harootunian, managing director, Evaluations, Interactive Data. “Financial institutions can realize benefits by utilizing independent evaluations of fixed income securities, instead of traditionally used broker quotes, as inputs to their valuations processes.”
Interactive Data provides global security evaluations designed to support financial institutions and investment funds’ pricing activities, research and portfolio management. The Company serves as an independent source of daily evaluations for more than 2.8 million fixed income and international equity securities. These services can enable clients to reduce the time, expense and resources necessary to support their valuation processes.