Responsible Products and Marketing

S&P Global takes seriously our role in providing our customers with the Essential Intelligence® they need to make informed decisions. The company’s values of integrity, discovery and partnership are ingrained in the products and services we offer and in every step of the customer experience.

We continually seek new ways to deliver value and provide a positive experience for our customers. From ideation, prototyping and testing through launch, marketing and delivery, we strive to deliver products that exceed expectations through quality-focused, risk-informed protocols. Each step of the way, we prioritize our responsibility to customers and their needs and preferences.

Our internal protocols prioritize the development of responsible, accurate, relevant and high-quality products. All new products are subject to review and signoff from Risk, Legal, Compliance and Marketing – and, in some instances, Finance – to confirm that all quality standards are met and that any issues identified during development-phase risk assessments are addressed. We also maintain procedures for receiving feedback and investigating complaints about our products and implementing corrective action plans.

To maintain strong risk-management governance and controls for our products, we employ a variety of approaches across the company. Key processes and protocols within different divisions and business units include, but are not limited to, the following:

• S&P Global Ratings employs various first-, second- and third-line functions, as appropriate, to oversee the establishment, maintenance and enforcement of policies, procedures and methodologies for determining credit ratings and non-credit rating products.
• S&P Global Market Intelligence maintains a New and Materially Changed Product Approval (NPA) Process, so that operational, legal, financial, compliance and other factors, as well as enterprise risks, are addressed prior to launch. In 2024, the NPA Process was updated to include specific questions pertaining to AI-enabled products.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights maintains strict separation of its commercial and editorial functions, so that benchmarks are produced independently, transparently and free from any commercial influence. It also has a robust internal AI usage approval process.
• At S&P Dow Jones Indices, index committees support efforts for all indices to be appropriately developed, defined and structured, and regularly reviewed for compliance with our public methodologies as market conditions change.
• S&P Global Sustainable1 uses a principles-based approach with policies and guidelines for governing the methodologies and models underlying many of its product and service offerings. In addition, Sustainable1 has established second-line analytic functions that independently validate and monitor methodologies and models, as well as a governance body that approves new/ revised models and methodologies prior to business use. (For more information, see box titled S&P Global Sustainable1 Enhances Governance for Methodologies and Models.)

Our business depends on our clients’ trust. We maintain processes and policies to enable us to align marketing materials with responsible practices, legal requirements and customer expectations.

Safeguarding c customers’ trust starts with protecting their privacy. See our Global Corporate Privacy Policy for details. We employ responsible sales and marketing practices in communicating the value of our products and services, including adherence to transparency guidelines and obtaining customer consent, where required by applicable law.

We have dedicated policies to enable us to meet and adhere to the highest standards. For instance, our Social Media Policy prohibits our team members from taking any action that might suggest that the independence and objectivity of our products or services could be improperly influenced by our sales, marketing or other commercial interests. Failure to comply with our policies may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.