The commission said Standard and Poor's 'may abuse its monopoly position as the US national numbering agency by forcing financial institutions ... to pay licensing fees for the use of US ISIN codes in their own databases.'

The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is a standard for banks and investment funds which provides unique cross-border identification for securities such as shares and bonds issued throughout the world.

Brussels said these codes appear to be the only common system for US securities and that they are essential to the daily business of financial institutions, including those in the European Union.

The probe was launched following 'a complaint filed by several associations representing investors.'

The commission, the EU's top competition regulator, said they alleged that Standard and Poor's could be abusing its market position by requesting fees from EU financial institutions, including for services they do not use.

It is also alleged that S and P 'forces its contractual partners, the information services providers, to cut off financial institutions from data feeds on US securities unless the latter enter into licensing agreements' to use ISINs.

The commission said the fact that it has opened an investigation does not imply that it has conclusive proof of any infringement. -- AFP