Editing S&P Global Ratings (section)

==Antitrust review==
In November 2009, ten months after launching an investigation, the [[European Commission]] (EC) formally charged S&P with abusing its position as the sole provider of international securities identification codes for [[United States|United States of America]] [[Security (finance)|securities]] by requiring European [[Financial institution|financial firms]] and data vendors to pay licensing fees for their use. "This behavior amounts to unfair pricing," the EC said in its statement of objections which lays the groundwork for an adverse finding against S&P. "The (numbers) are indispensable for a number of operations that financial institutions carry out&nbsp;– for instance, reporting to authorities or clearing and settlement&nbsp;– and cannot be substituted.”<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.securitiestechnologymonitor.com/news/-24275-1.html
 |title       = EC Charges S&P With Monopoly Abuse
 |year        = 2009
 |editor      = Securities Technology Monitor
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716033737/http://www.securitiestechnologymonitor.com/news/-24275-1.html
 |archive-date = July 16, 2011
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

S&P has run the [[CUSIP|CUSIP Service Bureau]], the only [[International Securities Identification Number]] (ISIN) issuer in the US, on behalf of the [[American Bankers Association]]. In its formal statement of objections, the EC alleged "that S&P is abusing this monopoly position by enforcing the payment of licence fees for the use of US ISINs by (a) banks and other financial services providers in the EEA and (b) information service providers in the EEA." It claims that comparable agencies elsewhere in the world either do not charge fees at all, or do so on the basis of distribution cost, rather than usage.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=20768
 |title       = European Commission Accuses S&P of Monopoly Abuse over Isin Fees
 |year        = 2009
 |editor      = Finextra
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110312100847/http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=20768
 |archive-date = March 12, 2011
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>