NEW YORK, December 14, 2005 — Dow Jones Newswires, the leading provider of real-time news and information solutions for financial professionals, will adopt the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) as its classification standard for identifying industry groups in its news content starting on February 18, 2006. Every company has a place in the ICB, which is a four-tier, hierarchical industry classification structure centered on a rules-based methodology for placing entities within sectors. ICB was launched in January 2005 by Dow Jones Indexes and FTSE Group.
Through ICB, Dow Jones Newswires’ clients and users will have the opportunity to access the market’s most innovative and flexible industry classification structure. ICB, a standard used by stock exchanges, index providers, and publishing and media organizations world-wide, will complement and upgrade the range of search codes available in Dow Jones Newswires’ currently used classification system, which also includes codes for news topics, regions and other categories.
Since its launch, ICB quickly is establishing itself as the market’s preferred classification system. It is designed to offer the financial industry a unified and comprehensive means of classifying 40,000 companies and 45,000 securities around the world. It allows users to monitor broad trends, focus on small market niches, and also perform qualitative and quantitative analysis.
“We have chosen to align our classification to the ICB standard as it represents a truly efficient modernization of the search tools we give our clients for finding the articles that matter to them about industries and the companies in them,” said Robert Prinsky, senior editor and executive director at Dow Jones Newswires.
“ICB offers comprehensive global coverage and an innovative classification structure that appeals to clients across the investment community,” said James Cemprola, managing director of ICB. “ICB serves as a versatile tool and will bring a tremendous amount of expertise and value to Dow Jones Newswires and its users.”