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Argus Media Ltd

Argus Media (Argus) is an independent media organisation with more than 1300 staff.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Radan Kanev (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Oct 2025 · Industrial policies

Meeting with Beatriz Yordi (Director Climate Action)

30 Jun 2025 · CBAM

Meeting with Fabien Santini (Head of Unit Agriculture and Rural Development)

20 Mar 2025 · Meeting with Argus Media on ongoing and further collaboration with AGRI on fertiliser markets monitoring.

Meeting with Miguel Jose Garcia Jones (Cabinet of Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra) and Afore Consulting

19 Sept 2024 · Biofuel price monitoring

Meeting with Gilles Boyer (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Afore Consulting and Association Française de la Gestion financière

17 Jan 2024 · BMR

Response to Review of the scope and third-country regime of the Benchmark Regulation

28 Mar 2023

Argus welcomes the opportunity to respond to the European Commissions call for evidence for the review of scope and third-country regime of the Benchmark Regulation. The BMR recognizes important differences between financial and commodity benchmarks. It introduced a specific regime for commodity benchmarks Annex II. Argus is a Price Reporting Agency (PRA) that operates in line with Annex II of the BMR. Annex II reflects that PRAs use a journalistic approach, backed by rigorous methodologies, to publish commodity benchmarks. Submissions to PRAs from global commodity market participants are voluntary and PRAs cannot compel contributors to report market information. Argus has identified two concerns in the current discussions: 1. Unintended consequences of amending the Ancillary Services Exemption in MIFID on the BMR The stipulation in Article 19(1) that Annex II of BMR ceases to apply if over 50% of contributors to commodity benchmarks are supervised entities is not based on market realities, nor has it been subject to an impact assessment and has been criticised by ESMA. The EC is seeking to narrow the ancillary services exemption of non-financial energy companies by making these companies supervised entities and bringing them directly into MiFID scope. The proposed amendment to the ancillary services exemption increases the risk that the 50% threshold in Article 19(1) is breached. To avoid unintended consequences as a result of this change to MiFID, Article 19(1) of the BMR should be amended. This would ensure that the number of supervised entities in commodity markets does not trigger a change in BMR from the application of Annex II to Title II. As ESMA noted, BMR Title II is not suitable for commodity benchmarks published by PRAs. It would require international commodity market participants who contribute information to PRAs to sign a binding Code of Conduct and be subject to EU laws. This creates a risk to the volume of participation in price formation, and threatens the transparency PRAs bring to commodity markets. Many voluntary submitters, particularly outside the EU, would withdraw contributions to the price assessment process. The proposed amendment: Article 19(1) BMR: The specific requirements laid down in Annex II shall apply instead of the requirements of Title II, with the exception of Article 10, to the provision of, and contribution to, commodity benchmarks, unless the benchmark in question is a regulated-data benchmark DELETE: or is based on submissions by contributors the majority of which are supervised entities. 2. The possible introduction of Strategic Benchmarks The designation strategic benchmark should be limited to those EU and third country benchmarks that could genuinely and demonstrably pose a material risk to the functioning and stability of EU capital and commodity markets. When the EC publishes revisions to BMR, it is important that there is a requirement to assess material risk using clear, objective and documented criteria. The proposal should include guidelines which control the exercise of the power to make such a determination. Procedures and data used should be transparent, and any strategic designation should include an impact assessment. In its response to the EC consultation, ESMA suggested that the unique characteristics of commodities may mean that they pose financial stability risks and should be therefore considered strategic. Argus is concerned that theoretical risk or short-term political responses to the high price of a commodity should not become the basis for regulation. The uncertainty such an approach would bring to markets could damage the orderly functioning of the markets themselves. In considering strategic benchmarks, we urge the EC to keep in mind that global commodity benchmarks published by PRAs differ fundamentally from EU financial benchmarks. Our arguments are set out in detail in the attachment.
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Meeting with Florian Denis (Cabinet of Commissioner Mairead Mcguinness)

20 Oct 2022 · introductory meeting energy crisis

Meeting with Olivier Guersent (Director-General Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)

15 Jan 2019 · capital market supervision, Systemic risk benchmarks, Implementation of the Benchmark Regulation, Application of third country regimes

Meeting with Lee Foulger (Cabinet of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

10 Mar 2015 · Benchmark regulation