London, 23 October 2023 – ICIS, a global source of commodity intelligence, today announced that the independent assurance review of its price reporting business has been successfully completed for the 11th consecutive year.
The Price Reporting Agency (PRA) principles are set out by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to ensure that commodity benchmark price reporting meets the highest standards.
“This year so far has been a story of falling prices and a tight squeeze on producer margins in many commodity markets. Adding to the stresses on many industries has been the growing need to meet carbon targets and the sustainability agenda in general,” said Stephen Burns, Editorial Director at ICIS. “The resulting pressure to control costs makes it even more important that decisions around resources are being based on reliable data generated under the auspices of the IOSCO standards.”
The 2023 audit includes new assessments for Isomer Grade Xylenes FOB South Korea, Propylene FD NWE, Benzene CIF NWE and Methanol Ex-tank Taicang (formerly Jiangsu). A full report detailing how ICIS has met the IOSCO PRA Principles can be found here.
This external audit, carried out by BDO LLP, complies with the requirements of the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) for commodity benchmarks (paragraph 18 of Annex II) as outlined by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The areas assured include governance structures, controls, maintenance of Editorial integrity, and conflict management processes in relation to the creation of commodity benchmark price assessments.
This report is accompanied by BDO’s findings following an independent review of ICIS processes and policies to provide Reasonable and Limited Assurance conclusions.
“The audit supports the confidence our customers have in the vital, trusted ICIS data they need more than ever to manage risk,” Burns said.