Metal Bulletin Group completes its first independent benchmark assurance review

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) independently reviewed a report from Metal Bulletin Group that included its responses to the Organization of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs), which were published in October 2012.

These cover governance, control, integrity and conflict management in relation to commodity benchmark price assessments published by PRAs.

Metal Bulletin’s report, issued on September 29, 2017, describes the policies, processes and controls governing its assessment of selected benchmark prices. Those selected benchmark prices are the Metal Bulletin P1020A In-warehouse Rotterdam Duty-unpaid Assessment Price and the Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index — 62% Fe Fines.

“The successful completion of the assurance review by PwC of two of our financial benchmark prices highlights the robust processes and documentation that support pricing at Metal Bulletin Group. The report will give further confidence to the companies around the world that depend on our prices as the basis of settlement for both physical and derivative contracts,” Metal Bulletin CEO Raju Daswani said.

“The assurance process began with the publication of the IOSCO principles, and will now continue, both with those prices that are already part of this process, and with the addition of new prices to this system of formal, independent review. We use the same methodology, systems and documentation for all of the prices that our pricing reporters assess and index, which will facilitate the extension of the assurance process,” Daswani added.

Metal Bulletin Group has invested significantly in people, resources and technology to ensure that its prices align with the IOSCO principles for PRAs.

PwC’s independent assurance report and Metal Bulletin’s description of its policies and procedures are available here.

More details of Metal Bulletin’s pricing methodology and specifications are available here.

Metal Bulletin Group, which includes Metal Bulletin, American Metal Market, FastMarkets, Industrial Minerals and Scrap Price Bulletin, is part of Euromoney Institutional Investor Inc’s price reporting division, along with RISI and FOEX.

If you have further enquiries, please contact Metal Bulletin COO Antony Towers.