[Technical Notice] Application of Expert Judgment and Proposed Methodology Change Regarding Fast Entry for IPOs

Akros Technologies announces the application of Expert Judgment by the Board of Directors regarding a recent significant Initial Public Offering (IPO), alongside a proposed material change to our index methodology to systematically manage similar events in the future. This notice serves concurrently as a Public Consultation and an Advance Notice of the methodology change.

1. Exercise of Expert Judgment (Immediate Exceptional Action)

Rationale: Delaying the inclusion of a recently listed, highly significant security until the next regular rebalancing schedule would adversely impact the representativeness of the Akros Indices and their ability to accurately reflect the economic realities of the underlying market.

Adopted Approach: Treating this as an unusual corporate event not covered by current methodologies, the Board of Directors has exercised Expert Judgment to exceptionally include the security in the relevant indices immediately. This decision was made to strictly uphold the integrity of the benchmark in alignment with IOSCO Principle 6 (Benchmark Design).

2. Proposed Methodology Change and Consultation (Permanent Rule Addition)

Following the aforementioned exercise of Expert Judgment, Akros Technologies proposes a material change to add a "Fast Entry" provision to the index methodology to govern future mega-IPOs transparently and without subjective discretion.

Details of the Change:

• Eligibility Criteria: A newly listed security that ranks within the top 500 by market capitalization on the exchange on which it is listed and has a market capitalization of at least USD $10B, in each case measured by either its public offering price or its closing price on the listing date, and that the Index Committee deems to be representative.
• Assessment and Timing: Eligibility is assessed as of the listing date, and the implementation date defaults to the day immediately following the listing date, subject to the Rebalancing Schedule Adjustment provisions (Section 6.4).

Where the Individual Index Methodology sets out specific provisions, those provisions take precedence. The rebalancing schedule may nonetheless be adjusted under Section 6.4 to account for considerations such as participation in public offerings, operational convenience, and liquidity. Any such adjustment is made only where it is consistent with the reasonable expectations of investors, gives rise to no conflict of interest, and accords with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, in particular Principle 6 (Benchmark Design) and the discretion-disclosure requirements of Principle 11.

3. Implementation Schedule & Feedback

Stakeholders are invited to submit their comments or feedback regarding this methodology change to akros@index.engineering.