Fastmarkets successfully completes IOSCO assurance review of its key forest products prices

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Apr 25, 2023, 03:00 ET

LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastmarkets, the industry-leading cross-commodity price reporting agency (PRA), has successfully completed another external assurance review of its key forest products prices.

BDO was appointed and carried out an independent assurance review and found that, as of March 31, 2023, Fastmarkets' policies, processes and control activities as specified in Fastmarkets' responses were in line with the Principles for Oil PRAs set out by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in 2012. The IOSCO principles create an overarching framework for benchmarks, articulating guidance and principles ensuring transparency and openness. The assurance review process examines a firm's governance and controls framework, policies, and methodologies in scope to verify their adherence to the PRA Principles.

As stated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), this external assurance review is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the audit requirements of the EU Benchmark Regulation (BMR) for commodity benchmarks (paragraph 18 of Annex II).

The price assessments reviewed include some administered by Fastmarkets Benchmark Administration Oy (FBA Oy), which was incorporated in Finland in December 2020 to administer all benchmarks that are in the scope of the BMR.

This year's review included seven new prices, which received the Type 1 IOSCO accreditation:

Kiln-dried southern yellow pine (eastside) 2 2x4 rl fob mill
Kiln-dried eastern spruce-pine-fir 1&2 2x4 rl delivered Great Lakes
Kiln-dried western spruce-pine-fir 2&btr 2x4 rl mill prices
Coast kiln-dried douglas fir 2&btr 2x4 rl fob mill
Oriented strand board sheathing (Southwest) 7/16-inch fob mill
Oriented strand board sheathing (Southeast) 7/16-inch fob mill
Oriented strand board sheathing (Western Canada) 7/16-inch fob mill

"We are delighted to have completed this year's annual external assurance review of our processes demonstrating our commitment to provide reliable, impartial, representative and transparent benchmarks,'' Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani said.

To obtain a copy of the independent assurance reports and to view Fastmarkets' price methodology/specifications, click here.

ABOUT FASTMARKETS

Fastmarkets is the industry-leading price reporting agency (PRA) and information provider for global commodities, providing price data, news, analytics and events for the agriculture, forest products, metals and mining, and new generation energy markets. Fastmarkets' data is critical for customers seeking to understand and predict dynamic, sometimes opaque markets, enabling trading and risk management. Fastmarkets is a global business with a 130-year history built on trust and deep market knowledge. It has more than 500 employees spread across global locations in the UK, US, China, Singapore, Brazil, Belgium and Finland.

SOURCE Fastmarkets