Bats Europe, one of Europe’s largest stock exchange operators, is to launch eight new benchmark indices for the French, German, Swiss and Italian markets on 19 December 2016. The indices will offer real-time, high-quality and low-cost alternatives to those provided by the incumbent index providers.

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New Benchmark Indices

As reported by Finance Magnates, Bats launched its index business in June 2016 with the introduction of 18 UK equity indices covering large to small cap securities and 12 FactSet-based industry sectors.

Bats is building on its momentum by expanding its index offering across Europe with the addition of new benchmark indices in these four key markets. The exchange has said that it will continue to expand its index offering into other European national and regional indices over the coming months.

Mark Hemsley, CEO of Bats Europe, commented: “We are excited to expand our benchmark indices business to these key European markets and provide investors and traders with real-time, high-quality benchmark indices in a cost effective manner as we challenge the incumbent index providers and bring competition to this vital part of market.”

Some key facts about the Bats Indices include:

• They are published in real-time which differs to commonly used indices whose values are often delayed by 15 minutes.
• They are highly correlated with comparable benchmarks that investors use every day and are designed to accurately reflect market moves.
• Bats has simplified index licensing arrangements, with a long-term commitment to materially reducing costs to all investors. 
• The indices all have a base value of 10,000 as of 31 December 2010, which makes the performance of markets and sectors easy to compare.
• All indices operate on a common rule set thus providing direct comparability.
• The indices are available free of charge to media clients to distribute in real time. They are also free of charge for vendor and benchmarking purposes.

Rudolf Siebel, Managing Director, German Investment Funds Association, said: “We believe the industry will benefit from increased competition and choice when it comes to benchmark indices and we are pleased that Bats is further expanding its index product line into other markets in Europe”.

Regulation

The exchange will take account of, and follow, the relevant International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Principles for Financial Benchmarks for its indices. Bats Europe will apply to its regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for approval as a Benchmark Administrator under the incoming Benchmark Regulation.