BSE to cut ties with S&P Dow Jones; develop own in-house indices

Asia's oldest bourse BSE has decided to snap ties with S&P Dow Jones, which manages and operates benchmark Sensex, and plans to develop indices through its own in-house development team, exchange's officials said.

The two entities had announced a joint venture -- Asia Index -- in 2013 to provide an array of indices enabling global and domestic investors to participate in South Asia's vibrant economies.

The deal with BSE came after the expiry of the licensing arrangement between India Index Services & Products (IISL), a joint venture of NSE and S&P-owned Crisil.

The exchange officials said that BSE will not renew its agreement with S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC which expires on December 31, 2018 and it is looking to develop indices through its own team.

"Basically, we had done this tie-up five years back, but the joint venture could not do much in terms of expanding in the foreign jurisdiction, the usage of the indexes and all," BSE Managing Director and Chief Executive Ashishkumar Chauhan told investors in a conference call.

"And that is why we have decided to not renew it, but overall the impact on profits or on the revenues will be minuscule," he added.

Rival bourse National Stock Exchange's indices are managed and operated by NSE Indices, an arm of NSE.

S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world's largest global resource for index-based concepts, data and research.

BSE is Asia's oldest stock exchange and home to the iconic Sensex index - a leading indicator of Indian equity market performance.