Article 19(1)(g) of Directive 85/611/EEC
Article 9
1. The reference in point (g) of Article 19(1) of Directive 85/611/EEC to financial indices shall be understood as a reference to indices which fulfil the following criteria: (a) they are sufficiently diversified, in that the following criteria are fulfilled: (i) the index is composed in such a way that price movements or trading activities regarding one component do not unduly influence the performance of the whole index; (ii) where the index is composed of assets referred to in Article 19(1) of Directive 85/611/EEC, its composition is at least diversified in accordance with Article 22a of that Directive; (iii) where the index is composed of assets other than those referred to in Article 19(1) of Directive 85/611/EEC, it is diversified in a way which is equivalent to that provided for in Article 22a of that Directive; (b) they represent an adequate benchmark for the market to which they refer, in that the following criteria are fulfilled: (i) the index measures the performance of a representative group of underlyings in a relevant and appropriate way; (ii) the index is revised or rebalanced periodically to ensure that it continues to reflect the markets to which it refers following criteria which are publicly available; (iii) the underlyings are sufficiently liquid, which allows users to replicate the index, if necessary; (c) they are published in an appropriate manner, in that the following criteria are fulfilled: (i) their publication process relies on sound procedures to collect prices and to calculate and to subsequently publish the index value, including pricing procedures for components where a market price is not available; (ii) material information on matters such as index calculation, rebalancing methodologies, index changes or any operational difficulties in providing timely or accurate information is provided on a wide and timely basis. 2. Where the composition of assets which are used as underlyings by financial derivatives in accordance with Article 19(1) of Directive 85/611/EEC does not fulfil the criteria set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, those financial derivatives shall, where they comply with the criteria set out in Article 8(1) of this Directive, be regarded as financial derivatives on a combination of the assets referred to in points (i), (ii) and (iii) of Article 8(1)(a).