15/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Commitments offered by Standard & Poor's (S&P) become legally binding. On Tuesday 15 November, the European Commission decided to make commitments offered by Standard & Poor's (“S&P”) legally binding. This will make it possible to abolish licensing fees that banks had to pay for the mere use of US ISINs (international identification of transferable securities) in Europe and significantly reduce their cost for other users such as information services providers. For direct users, information services providers (ISPs) and service bureaus (i.e. outsourced data management service providers), S&P committed to distribute the US ISIN record separately from other added value information, on a daily basis for US$15,000 per year, to be adjusted each year in line with inflation. (LC/transl.jl)