Sector & Thematic Strategy Briefing - Wednesday 29th March 2023 - The Berkeley, London Please join us for our annual sector and thematic investing event, featuring DWS Xtrackers, First Trust, MSCI, Redburn and Sprott Asset Management. Please register now if you would like to attend.
S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced that the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) has granted the index provider’s Netherlands entity, S&P DJI BV, authorisation as a regulated Dutch benchmark administrator, under the EU benchmark regulation.
Alex Matturri, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The regulation, which has been in effect since 1 January 2018, forms part of the EU’s drive to enhance the reliability and integrity of financial benchmarks following the LIBOR scandal in 2012.
It offers a harmonized framework for index providers, thereby providing investors in index-linked products, such as ETFs, with a greater degree of confidence that these indices will not be subject to manipulation.
Both EU and non-EU entities that administer financial benchmarks used in the EU are required to apply for a license under the EU Benchmarks Regulation before 1 January 2020.
The authorisation of S&P DJI BV completes the first phase of a two-step implementation process of the EU benchmark regulation by S&P DJI.
As an authorised EU benchmark administrator, S&P DJI BV will act as the ‘endorsing’ administrator for those benchmarks administered by S&P DJI outside of the EU so that EU supervised entities will be able to continue to use such benchmarks after the transition period expires on 1 January, 2020.
“We are very pleased with the AFM’s authorisation and are delighted to be opening our office in Amsterdam, a historic city for capital markets,” said Alex Matturri, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
“Since 1884 S&P DJI has established best practices for the transparent and independent governance of our indices. Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to a robust financial market system and to developing European capital markets.”
S&P Dow Jones Indices becomes latest index provider to gain authorisation, following MSCI’s approval in March and FTSE Russell’s in June.