S&P sanctioned over index snafu | Investment Executive
James Langton Indexing giant S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC settled allegations that it violated U.S. securities laws when an undisclosed index feature caused it to publish stale data during highly volatile markets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the firm over alleged failures involving a quality control feature of one of its volatility-related indices, the S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures Index ER. According to the SEC’s order, on Feb. 5, 2018, the VIX spiked by 115% but the index remained static due to an undisclosed “auto hold” feature, which is triggered if an in...