ensure the confidentiality of information contributed to or produced by the administrator, subject to the disclosure and transparency obligations under this Regulation; and

specifically mitigate conflicts of interest due to the administrator's ownership or control, or due to other interests in the administrator's group or as a result of other persons that may exercise influence or control over the administrator in relation to determining the benchmark.

have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for the duties assigned to them and are subject to effective management and supervision;

are not subject to undue influence or conflicts of interest and that the compensation and performance evaluation of those persons do not create conflicts of interest or otherwise impinge upon the integrity of the benchmark determination process;

do not have any interests or business connections that compromise the activities of the administrator concerned;

are prohibited from contributing to a benchmark determination by way of engaging in bids, offers and trades on a personal basis or on behalf of market participants, except where such way of contribution is explicitly required as part of the benchmark methodology and is subject to specific rules therein; and

are subject to effective procedures to control the exchange of information with other employees involved in activities that may create a risk of conflicts of interest or with third parties, where that information may affect the benchmark.

reviewing the benchmark's definition and methodology at least annually;

overseeing any changes to the benchmark methodology and being able to request the administrator to consult on such changes;

overseeing the administrator's control framework, the management and operation of the benchmark, and, where the benchmark is based on input data from contributors, the code of conduct referred to in Article 15;

reviewing and approving procedures for cessation of the benchmark, including any consultation about a cessation;

overseeing any third party involved in the provision of the benchmark, including calculation or dissemination agents;

assessing internal and external audits or reviews, and monitoring the implementation of identified remedial actions;

where the benchmark is based on input data from contributors, monitoring the input data and contributors and the actions of the administrator in challenging or validating contributions of input data;

where the benchmark is based on input data from contributors, taking effective measures in respect of any breaches of the code of conduct referred to in Article 15; and

reporting to the F7FCA any misconduct by contributors, where the benchmark is based on input data from contributors, or administrators, of which the oversight function becomes aware, and any anomalous or suspicious input data.

the procedures regarding the oversight function and the characteristics of the oversight function including its composition as well as its positioning within the organisational structure of the administrator, so as to ensure the integrity of the function and the absence of conflicts of interest;

F12... a non-exhaustive list of appropriate governance arrangements as laid down in paragraph 4.

management of operational risk;

adequate and effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans;

contingency procedures that are in place in the event of a disruption to the process of the provision of the benchmark.

ensure that contributors adhere to the code of conduct referred to in Article 15 and comply with the applicable standards for input data;

monitor input data including, where feasible, monitoring input data before publication of the benchmark and validating input data after publication to identify errors and anomalies.

all input data, including the use of such data;

the methodology used for the determination of a benchmark;

any exercise of judgement or discretion by the administrator and, where applicable, by assessors, in the determination of a benchmark, including the reasoning for said judgement or discretion;

the disregard of any input data, in particular where it conformed to the requirements of the benchmark methodology, and the rationale for such disregard;

other changes in or deviations from standard procedures and methodologies, including those made during periods of market stress or disruption;

the identities of the submitters and of the natural persons employed by the administrator for the determination of a benchmark;

all documents relating to any complaint, including those submitted by a complainant; and

telephone conversations or electronic communications between any person employed by the administrator and contributors or submitters in respect of a benchmark.

the administrator makes available the complaints-handling policy through which complaints may be submitted on whether a specific benchmark determination is representative of market value, on a proposed change to the benchmark determination process, on an application of the methodology in relation to a specific benchmark determination, and on other decisions in relation to the benchmark determination process;

complaints are investigated in a timely and fair manner and the outcome of the investigation is communicated to the complainant within a reasonable period of time, unless such communication would be contrary to objectives of public policy or to Regulation (EU) No 596/2014; and

the inquiry is conducted independently of any personnel who may be or may have been involved in the subject-matter of the complaint.

the service provider has the ability, capacity, and any authorisation required by law, to perform the outsourced functions, services or activities reliably and professionally;

the administrator makes available to the F19FCA the identity and the tasks of the service provider that participates in the benchmark determination process;

the administrator takes appropriate action if it appears that the service provider may not be carrying out the outsourced functions effectively and in compliance with applicable law and regulatory requirements;

the administrator retains the necessary expertise to supervise the outsourced functions effectively and to manage the risks associated with the outsourcing;

the service provider discloses to the administrator any development that may have a material impact on its ability to carry out the outsourced functions effectively and in compliance with applicable law and regulatory requirements;

the service provider cooperates with the F20FCA regarding the outsourced activities, and the administrator and the F20FCA have effective access to data related to the outsourced activities, as well as to the business premises of the service provider, and the F20FCA is able to exercise those rights of access;

the administrator is able to terminate the outsourcing arrangements where necessary;

the administrator takes reasonable steps, including contingency plans, to avoid undue operational risk related to the participation of the service provider in the benchmark determination process.

the input data shall be sufficient to represent accurately and reliably the market or economic reality that the benchmark is intended to measure.

The input data shall be transaction data, if available and appropriate. If transaction data is not sufficient or is not appropriate to represent accurately and reliably the market or economic reality that the benchmark is intended to measure, input data which is not transaction data may be used, including estimated prices, quotes and committed quotes, or other values;

the input data referred to in point (a) shall be verifiable;

the administrator shall draw up and publish clear guidelines regarding the types of input data, the priority of use of the different types of input data and the exercise of expert judgement, to ensure compliance with point (a) and the methodology;

where a benchmark is based on input data from contributors, the administrator shall obtain, where appropriate, the input data from a reliable and representative panel or sample of contributors so as to ensure that the resulting benchmark is reliable and representative of the market or economic reality that the benchmark is intended to measure;

the administrator shall not use input data from a contributor if the administrator has any indication that the contributor does not adhere to the code of conduct referred to in Article 15, and in such a case shall obtain representative publicly available data.

criteria that determine who may contribute input data to the administrator and a process for selecting contributors;

a process for evaluating a contributor's input data and for stopping the contributor from providing further input data, or applying other penalties for non-compliance against the contributor, where appropriate; and

a process for validating input data, including against other indicators or data, to ensure its integrity and accuracy.

obtain data from other sources that corroborate that input data; and

ensure that contributors have in place adequate internal oversight and verification procedures.

paragraph 4 does not require the administrator to cease providing the benchmark while those measures have effect, and

the administrator's duty under paragraph 4 to make changes is a duty to make changes so far as compatible with those measures.

is robust and reliable;

has clear rules identifying how and when discretion may be exercised in the determination of that benchmark;

is rigorous, continuous and capable of validation including, where appropriate, back-testing against available transaction data;

is resilient and ensures that the benchmark can be calculated in the widest set of possible circumstances, without compromising its integrity;

is traceable and verifiable.

take into account factors including the size and normal liquidity of the market, the transparency of trading and the positions of market participants, market concentration, market dynamics, and the adequacy of any sample to represent the market or economic reality that the benchmark is intended to measure;

determine what constitutes an active market for the purposes of that benchmark; and

establish the priority given to different types of input data.

the key elements of the methodology that the administrator uses for each benchmark provided and published or, when applicable, for each family of benchmarks provided and published;

details of the internal review and the approval of a given methodology, as well as the frequency of such review;

the procedures for consulting on any proposed material change in the administrator's methodology and the rationale for such changes, including a definition of what constitutes a material change and the circumstances in which the administrator is to notify users of any such changesF2;

an explanation of how the key elements of the methodology laid down in point (a) reflect ESG factors for each benchmark or family of benchmarks, with the exception of interest rate and foreign exchange benchmarks.

advance notice, with a clear time frame, that gives the opportunity to analyse and comment upon the impact of such proposed material changes; and

the comments referred to in point (a) of this paragraph, and the administrator's response to those comments, to be made accessible after any consultation, except where confidentiality has been requested by the originator of the comments.

a clear description of the input data to be provided and the requirements necessary to ensure that input data is provided in accordance with Articles 11 and 14;

identification of the persons that may contribute input data to the administrator and procedures to verify the identity of a contributor and any submitters, as well as authorisation of any submitters that contribute input data on behalf of a contributor;

policies to ensure that a contributor provides all relevant input data;

the systems and controls that a contributor is required to establish, including:

1. (i)

   procedures for contributing input data, including requirements for the contributor to specify whether input data is transaction data and whether input data conforms to the administrator's requirements;

2. (ii)

   policies on the use of discretion in contributing input data;

3. (iii)

   any requirement for the validation of input data before it is provided to the administrator;

4. (iv)

   record-keeping policies;

5. (v)

   reporting requirements concerning suspicious input data;

6. (vi)

   requirements concerning the management of conflicts of interest.

the supervised contributor shall ensure that the provision of input data is not affected by any existing or potential conflict of interest and that, where any discretion is required, it is independently and honestly exercised based on relevant information in accordance with the code of conduct referred to in Article 15;

the supervised contributor shall have in place a control framework that ensures the integrity, accuracy and reliability of input data and that input data is provided in accordance with this Regulation and the code of conduct referred to in Article 15.

controls regarding who may submit input data to an administrator including, where proportionate, a process for sign-off by a natural person holding a position senior to that of the submitter;

appropriate training for submitters, covering at least this Regulation and Regulation (EU) No 596/2014;

measures for the management of conflicts of interest, including organisational separation of employees where appropriate and consideration of how to remove incentives, created by remuneration polices, to manipulate a benchmark;

record-keeping, for an appropriate period of time, of communications in relation to provision of input data, of all information used to enable the contributor to make each submission, and of all existing or potential conflicts of interest including, but not limited to, the contributor's exposure to financial instruments which use a benchmark as a reference;

record-keeping of internal and external audits.