Update adds link to draft.
London, 30 April (Argus) — Commodity price reporting agencies Argus, Icis and Platts have launched a draft code on price reporting, as they develop a self-regulatory approach to demonstrate their commitment to transparency and good governance.
Argus, Icis and Platts accompanied today's launch of a draft Price Reporting Code for Independent Price Reporting Organisations (the Ipro Code) with a request for feedback on the draft from energy market participants, other commodities information publishers and stakeholders.
The code sets standards and compliance requirements for price reporting organisations. Argus, Icis and Platts started to jointly draft the code in the third quarter of last year, after earlier preliminary discussions.
All three companies proposed the concept of a self-regulatory framework in their individual comments to the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco), which launched a consultation on the 'Functioning and Oversight of Oil Price Reporting Agencies' in March.
The three companies that drafted the code aim to adopt it by this summer and hope that other commodity price reporting organisations will sign up to it once it is finalised.
“The Ipro Code is the most appropriate way of demonstrating and ensuring strong governance, transparency and high standards for firms in our industry,” Argus Media chief executive Adrian Binks said. “The leading independent price reporting organisations are highly professional companies that have been serving the international energy markets and thousands of major industrial customers globally for many decades. We operate transparently to high and audited standards.”
The code sets out standards and guidelines covering key areas in price reporting such as governance, managing and mitigating conflicts of interest, integrity and transparency of price reporting, and non-discriminatory data collection.
The price reporting organisations argue that they already operate to the standards that they have set out in the draft Ipro Code, but understand the need to demonstrate this to market participants and regulators such as those represented by Iosco.
The code sets out robust monitoring and calls for a periodic audit of compliance with the code. Each signatory's chief executive will be required to sign an annual statement of compliance.
The Ipro Code's signatories will reaffirm guarantees regarding timely publication of price assessments, corrections and methodology modifications and commitments on the monitoring and detection of non-representative deals data.
Companies that sign the code must demonstrate that they have procedures to deal with complaints and compliance processes regarding confidential information and record-keeping.
“Icis is pleased to join Argus and Platts in developing this code, which articulates clearly our commitment to stakeholders,” Icis managing director Christopher Flook said. “We hope it will be adopted as a standard by all independent price reporting organisations.”
“We look forward to receiving industry feedback on the code, and encourage other Ipros to join us in finalising its standards and signing on,” Platts president Larry Neal said.
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