BSE adds S&P brand to Sensex, other indices; inks strategic pact

Premier stock exchange BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) has roped in Standard and Poor's to use the S&P brand for Sensex and other indices such as BSE 200 and BSE 100, a week after the expiry of the global financial major's pact with the rival exchange National Stock Exchange (NSE)."BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices announced today a strategic partnership to calculate, disseminate, and licence the widely followed suite of BSE indices," BSE said in a statement today.The partnership would allow S&P Dow Jones Indices to further implement its South Asia growth strategy. It also permits S&P Dow Jones Indices to have a fourth major operational hub by which to support clients globally after operations in Hong Kong, London and New York. As of December 31, 2011, more than $1.5 trillion is directly indexed to S&P Dow Jones Indices' family of stock market indices.The deal with BSE comes soon after the expiry of the licencing arrangement between India Index Services & Products (IISL), a joint venture of NSE and S&P-owned Crisil. S&P's, last week, ended its licencing agreement for benchmark indices of the NSE, pursuant to which the stock exchange can not use S&P name for any of its products."Effective today, each of the BSE indices will be co-branded "S&P" including the BSE Sensex, BSE 200 and BSE 100," the 137-year old exchange said in statement. Besides, these indices would join S&P Dow Jones Indices' other iconic financial market indicators such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P/TSX 60, and the S&P/ASX 200 in providing the global investors with must-have views of the overall health and direction of the world's financial markets."We expect our partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices will help BSE in raising the growing global acceptance of the Sensex and other BSE index benchmarks, and help BSE achieve a leadership position in the index derivatives space," BSE MD and CEO Ashish Chauhan said.