Fastmarkets becomes BMR-regulated PRA, strengthening its already robust pricing methodologies

Fastmarkets, the industry-leading cross-commodity price reporting agency (PRA), on Tuesday March 16 announced that its benchmark administrator Fastmarkets Benchmark Administration Oy (FBA) has been authorized under Article 34 of the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR).

March 15, 2021

This BMR authorization highlights the strength of Fastmarkets’ methodologies and pricing processes, which can withstand stringent regulatory checks, and shows our commitment to facilitate the use of our benchmarks in financial derivatives.

FBA Oy is incorporated in Helsinki, Finland, and authorized by the Finanssivalvonta, the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA). It operates as the independent administrator of benchmarks provided by Fastmarkets and is subject to BMR. Fastmarkets expanded its 13 global offices to include Helsinki with the acquisition of RISI and FOEX in 2017.

BMR builds upon the global standards set out in the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for PRAs, to which Fastmarkets also adheres. It establishes a common regulatory framework, ensuring Fastmarkets’ benchmarks across agriculture, forest products, and metals and mining are produced in a reliable, independent, robust and auditable manner.

Trust matters for industry participants operating in volatile markets and making decisions that can have heavy financial consequences. FBA’s BMR authorization gives Fastmarkets’ customers greater confidence that they can make the best possible decisions based on benchmarks that are underpinned by the strength and integrity of their methodology and pricing processes.

“The BMR authorization is a testament to the way we work and the value we bring to our customers every day across agriculture, forest products, and metals and mining,” Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani said. “The strength and integrity of our methodology translates to trust – trust that our customers can trade, manage risk and plan based on benchmarks that are reliable, impartial, representative and transparent.”

Lasse Sinikallas, Managing Director of FBA Oy added, “This BMR authorization opens the path to further cooperation with global exchanges and the financial industry to support cash-settled contracts and the use of Fastmarkets benchmarks in financial derivatives in Europe.”
To learn more about our benchmark administrator, FBA Oy, please click here.

For further inquiries, please contact Katharine Kellar at katharine.kellar@fastmarkets.com.