STOXX Limited, a leading provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today declared its compliance with the International Organisation of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) Principles for Financial Benchmarks, and published its “Letter of Compliance with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks” on the company’s website.
The objective of the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks is to create an overarching regulatory framework for benchmarks used in global financial markets. The internationally valid guidelines focus on the methodology, transparency and overall quality of benchmarks, as well as the overall governance arrangements and accountability for index providers and other relevant bodies. These principles intend to promote the reliability of benchmarks and have to be followed by providers globally, thus ensuring a uniform standard. Amongst others, one strong focus of the principles is set on conflicts of interest in the benchmark determination process, which is addressed by clear governance requirements – measures that are also strongly supported by STOXX.
“Since STOXX’s founding in 1998, we have always been known and valued in the market as a provider of neutral, transparent and strictly rules-based indices,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited. “We strongly support the objectives of the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, and are pleased to declare our compliance with them. It is our aspiration to be a leader in best practice standards in our industry, and having a robust compliance framework for our indices is certainly an important part of this.”
Having completed a thorough assessment, STOXX’s governance processes and STOXX’s key indices are considered fully compliant with the requirements put forth by IOSCO. The full list of principles and how STOXX ensures its compliance with them can be found at www.stoxx.com/indices/index_regulations.html.
An independent audit of the implementation of the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks will be conducted by the end of 2014.
