LONDON, April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information provider, today announced that an independent assurance review of its non-oil price assessment processes completed by Ernst & Young confirms that Platts' governance and controls framework, policies and editorial practices align with IOSCO's Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies.

"The results of this first non-oil reasonable assurance review further demonstrate that Platts is committed to and has achieved the highest standards of price reporting across all the commodities it covers," said Larry Neal, president of Platts. "We voluntarily extended the PRA Principles to our processes in the power and gas, agriculture, metals and petrochemicals sectors last year and we're proud to be a standard bearer in structured, transparent methodologies and governance procedures."

The Ernst & Young review included a comprehensive review of Platts' documentation of its processes for price assessments used for non-oil derivative contracts and observances of its practices in Houston, London and Singapore. The review was undertaken to meet IOSCO's recommendation that price reporting agencies engage an external auditor to review and report on the PRA's adherence to its own stated methodology criteria as well as the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles. A reasonable assurance review is the highest standard for such a review.

"Platts has dedicated extensive resources to ensuring its alignment of the non-oil commodities benchmarks to the IOSCO PRA Principles," Neal said. "Platts will continue to have all of its benchmarks assessed pursuant to the IOSCO PRA Principles and going forward will align the timing and dates of the oil and non-oil reasonable assurance reviews beginning September 30, 2015."

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published its Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies, which were endorsed by the G20, in October 2012.

"Platts is supportive of efforts by legislators and regulators to assure confidence in benchmarks and our broad application of the IOSCO PRA Principles to all of the commodities benchmarks we publish is further evidence of this support," Neal said.

Platts has published the full reasonable assurance review at www.platts.com, which includes the policies and procedures it has in place to meet each of the IOSCO Principles, and Ernst & Young's comments on those policies and procedures. Details of Platts' methodologies can be found at www.platts.com/methodology-references.

The IOSCO Principles are available at www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD391.pdf.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is based in London with more than 1000 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL and J.D. Power. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 30 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

CONTACT
Kathleen Tanzy
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Kathleen.tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts