Diana Ribeiro Duarte and Pilar Portas write about a new possibility for SGOICs in the administration of benchmark indices

Diana Ribeiro Duarte, partner, and Pilar Portas, junior associate at Morais Leitão, authored the article “SGOIC may administer benchmark indices (that are not significant): a potential source of cost savings?”, in which they analyse the impact of the recent reform of the European Union Benchmark Regulation (BMR).

The authors explain that Regulation (EU) 2025/914, in force since 1 January 2026, excluded non-significant benchmark indices from the scope of the BMR, removing the obligation to register with the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and reducing the regulatory burden associated with their administration.

Under this new framework, SGOICs may now administer non-significant indices internally (with the exception of those related to climate transition), which may allow them to reduce reliance on external providers and adapt index methodologies to their investment strategies.

However, the article highlights that this approach requires robust governance and conflict-of-interest management mechanisms and may raise credibility concerns in the market, particularly as institutional investors tend to favour indices administered by independent and recognised entities.

Read the full article in FundsPeople.