UPDATE: EU Opens Antitrust Case Against Standard & Poor's
12 Enero 2009 - 9:17AM
Noticias Dow Jones
The European Commission Monday said it has opened an antitrust
investigation into the U.S. credit rating agency Standard &
Poor's, specifically as to whether it has abused its dominant
market position in its handling of International Securities
Identification Numbers, or ISINs.
"S&P may abuse its monopoly position as the U.S. national
numbering agency" by forcing banks and investment funds to pay
licensing fees for the use of U.S. ISIN codes in their own
databases, the commission said.
The investigation of the agency, owned by the McGraw-Hill Cos.
(MHP), began due to complaints by several associations representing
financial institutions, the commission said.
S&P-provided ISIN numbers, which are used to identify any
bond, or share issued in the market, come bundled together with a
descriptive database full of information on the asset, usually sold
on to financial news agencies.
However, financial institutions, such as asset managers, are
often required to pay a separate fee on top of subscribing to the
financial data from the agencies to access S&P's descriptive
database. These companies feel that they shouldn't have to pay the
full license fee to S&P for additional information which they
often don't need.
Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said the issue is basically
about bundling various services together, which is a problem
because S&P holds a monopoly in issuing ISIN number in the
U.S.
However, an S&P spokesman said that the complaint that
prompted the investigation is "without merit," and doesn't
represent the activities of the business segment which deals with
the ISIN codes.
The company's licensing practices and charges are wholly
transparent and in line with industry practices, he said. S&P
is cooperating with the commission's inquiry, he added.
-By Peppi Kiviniemi, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 (0)2 741 1483;
peppi.kiviniemi@dowjones.com
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