Thomson Reuters gets green light for new rates data arm

The new unit - Thomson Reuters Benchmark Services - has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Times reported.

It will have its own board and assume governance of the 160 benchmarks Thomson Reuters helps to calculate globally, in preparation for a July deadline to tighten oversight of benchmark indices.

Mark Beaumont, Thomson Reuters global head of treasury content, will chair the new subsidiary.

“Over the past 18 months, we have been working closely with global regulators, authorities and agencies to ensure that as an industry we collectively enhance and re-establish trust in key benchmarks and continue to support the vital role they play in financial markets,” said John Cooley, global head of indices and reference rates.

The five-year probe into manipulation of LIBOR - the London interbank lending rate - has led to billions of dollars of fines for banks, and sparked investigations into possible manipulation in other markets. Administrators of financial market benchmarks must prove by the July deadline that they have improved systems for monitoring submitted figures.

Thomson Reuters collected the data for LIBOR for more than 25 years. It was absolved from culpability in the rate-rigging scandal and hopes to add to the number of global benchmarks it publishes. Over the past year it has won the mandate to publish 11 new benchmarks.

The group continues to collect data for the calculation of LIBOR although its long-term involvement remains unclear. Responsibility for its administration has passed to IntercontinentalExchange, a US derivatives exchange operator. ■