Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) announced that the European Securities and Markets Authority has granted recognition to ICE Data Indices as a third country benchmark administrator under Article 32 of the EU Benchmarks Regulation.

The recognition allows the 100 Climate Transition and Paris-Aligned Benchmarks currently offered by ICE Data Indices to remain available for use by supervised entities in the European Union. These benchmarks are part of the Climate Index series, which includes fixed income indices that incorporate ESG screening criteria and a carbon reduction methodology.

The climate indices cover different currencies and emissions metrics, including the ICE Euro Corporate Climate Transition CTB Index, ICE Sterling Corporate Climate Transition Absolute Emissions CTB Index, ICE Emerging Markets Corporate Plus Paris-Aligned Absolute Emissions PAB Index, ICE US High Yield Paris-Aligned PAB Index, and ICE Global Corporate Paris-Aligned Absolute Emissions PAB Index.

"With the ongoing demand for responsible and sustainable investing, the goal of carbon reduction has become even more important for investors," said Preston Peacock, Head of ICE Data Indices. "Receiving this recognition from ESMA expands our reach and further supports our efforts to continue helping investors make more informed decisions to achieve their emission reduction goals."

ICE Data Indices also maintains recognition as a third country benchmark administrator by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. The company administers other benchmarks that are not currently in scope of the EU Benchmarks Regulation.

ICE reports over $2 trillion in total assets under management benchmarked to ICE Indices and offers over 8,000 global equity, fixed income, commodity and foreign exchange indices.