S&P Global 10-K 2020-12-31

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 1-1023

S&P Global Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 212-438-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Date File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of

the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.

7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☑

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2020, was $79.4 billion, based on the closing price of the common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange of $329.48 per common share. For purposes of this calculation, it is assumed that directors, executive officers and beneficial owners of more than 10% of the registrant outstanding stock are affiliates. The number of shares of common stock of the Registrant outstanding as of February 5, 2021 was 240.7 million shares.

Part III incorporates information by reference from the definitive proxy statement for the 2021 annual meeting of shareholders.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains “forward-looking statements,” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, including statements about COVID-19 and the merger (the “Merger”) between a subsidiary of the Company and IHS Markit Ltd. (“IHS Markit”), which express management’s current views concerning future events, trends, contingencies or results, appear at various places in this report and use words like “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “strategy,” “target” and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like “could,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “will” and “would.” For example, management may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: the outcome of contingencies; future actions by regulators; changes in the Company’s business strategies and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of the Company’s services and products; the expected impact of acquisitions and dispositions; the Company’s effective tax rates; and the Company’s cost structure, dividend policy, cash flows or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements include, among other things:

• worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions, and factors that contribute to uncertainty and volatility, natural and man-made disasters, civil unrest, pandemics (e.g., COVID-19), geopolitical uncertainty, and conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes;

• the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the Merger, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected, the Company’s shareholder approval and the IHS Markit shareholder approval at all or in a timely manner;

• the occurrence of events that may give rise to a right of one or both of the parties to terminate the merger agreement;

• uncertainty relating to the impact of the Merger on the businesses of the Company and IHS Markit, including potential adverse reactions or changes to the market price of the Company’s common stock and IHS Markit shares resulting from the announcement or completion of the Merger and changes to existing business relationships during the pendency of the acquisition that could affect the Company’s and/or IHS Markit’s financial performance;

• risks relating to the value of the Company’s stock to be issued in the Merger, significant transaction costs and/or unknown liabilities;

• the ability of the Company to successfully integrate IHS Markit’s operations and retain and hire key personnel of both companies;

• the ability of the Company to retain customers and to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to IHS Markit’s business after the consummation of the Merger and realize expected synergies;

• business disruption following the Merger;

• the possibility that the Merger may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events;

• the Company’s and IHS Markit’s ability to meet expectations regarding the accounting and tax treatments of the Merger;

• the Company’s ability to successfully recover should it experience a disaster or other business continuity problem from a hurricane, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, pandemic, security breach, cyber attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made event, including the ability to function remotely during long-term disruptions such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;

• the Company’s ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the security of confidential information and data, and the potential for a system or network disruption that results in regulatory penalties and remedial costs or improper disclosure of confidential information or data;

• the outcome of litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries;

• the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances, demand for investment products that track indices and assessments and trading volumes of certain exchange traded derivatives;

• the demand and market for credit ratings in and across the sectors and geographies where the Company operates;

• concerns in the marketplace affecting the Company’s credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit ratings, benchmarks and indices;

• the effect of competitive products and pricing, including the level of success of new product developments and global expansion;

• the Company’s exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil penalties for noncompliance with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable in the domestic and international jurisdictions in which it operates, including sanctions laws relating to countries such as Iran, Russia, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, anti-corruption laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials, as well as import and export restrictions;

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• the continuously evolving regulatory environment, in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, affecting S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Platts, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Market Intelligence, including the Company’s compliance therewith;

• the Company’s ability to make acquisitions and dispositions and successfully integrate the businesses we acquire;

• consolidation in the Company’s end-customer markets;

• the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies;

• the impact of customer cost-cutting pressures, including in the financial services industry and the commodities markets;

• a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by financial institutions;

• the level of merger and acquisition activity in the United States and abroad;

• the volatility and health of the energy and commodities markets;

• our ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees;

• the level of the Company’s future cash flows and capital investments;

• the impact on the Company’s revenue and net income caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

• the Company's ability to adjust to changes in European and United Kingdom markets as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, and the impact of the United Kingdom’s departure on our credit rating activities and other offerings in the European Union and United Kingdom; and

• the impact of changes in applicable tax or accounting requirements on the Company.

The factors noted above are not exhaustive. The Company and its subsidiaries operate in a dynamic business environment in which new risks emerge frequently. Accordingly, the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it is made, except as required by applicable law. Further information about the Company’s businesses, including information about factors that could materially affect its results of operations and financial condition, is contained in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including Item 1A, Risk Factors, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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PART I

Overview

S&P Global Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company,” the “Registrant,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The capital markets include asset managers, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, exchanges, trading firms and issuers; and the commodity markets include producers, traders and intermediaries within energy, metals, petrochemicals and agriculture. We serve our global customers through a broad range of products and services available through both third-party and proprietary distribution channels. We were incorporated in December of 1925 under the laws of the state of New York.

Our Businesses

Our operations consist of four reportable segments: S&P Global Ratings ("Ratings"), S&P Global Market Intelligence ("Market Intelligence"), S&P Global Platts ("Platts") and S&P Dow Jones Indices ("Indices"). For a discussion on the competitive conditions in our businesses, see “MD&A – Segment Review” contained in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Beginning in the first quarter of 2019, the contract obligations for revenue from Kensho Technologies Inc.’s (“Kensho”) major customers were transferred to Market Intelligence for fulfillment. As a result of this transfer, from January 1, 2019 revenue from contracts with Kensho’s customers is reflected in Market Intelligence’s results. In 2018, the revenue from contracts with Kensho’s customers was reported in Corporate revenue. See Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures to the consolidated financial statements under Item 8, Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In November of 2020, S&P Global and IHS Markit Ltd ("IHS Markit") entered into a merger agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, a subsidiary of S&P Global will merge with and into IHS Markit, with IHS Markit surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of S&P Global. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each share of IHS Markit issued and outstanding (other than excluded shares and dissenting shares) will be converted into the right to receive 0.2838 fully paid and nonassessable shares of S&P Global common stock (and, if applicable, cash in lieu of fractional shares, without interest), less any applicable withholding taxes. As of December 31, 2020, IHS Markit had approximately 396.6 million shares outstanding. Subject to certain closing conditions, the merger is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021.

Ratings

Ratings is an independent provider of credit ratings, research, and analytics, offering investors and other market participants information, ratings and benchmarks. Credit ratings are one of several tools investors can use when making decisions about purchasing bonds and other fixed income investments. They are opinions about credit risk and our ratings express our opinion about the ability and willingness of an issuer, such as a corporation or state or city government, to meet its financial obligations in full and on time. Our credit ratings can also relate to the credit quality of an individual debt issue, such as a corporate or municipal bond, and the relative likelihood that the debt issue may default.

With offices in over 25 countries around the world, Ratings is an important part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for over 150 years in providing investors with information and independent benchmarks for their investment and financial decisions as well as access to the capital markets. The key constituents Ratings serves are investors, corporations, governments, municipalities, commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and other debt issuers.

As the capital markets continue to evolve, Ratings is well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities, driven by continuing regulatory changes, through its global network, well-established position in corporate markets and strong investor reputation.

Ratings disaggregates its revenue between transaction and non-transaction. Transaction revenue primarily includes fees associated with:

• ratings related to new issuance of corporate and government debt instruments, as well as structured finance debt instruments;

• bank loan ratings; and

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• corporate credit estimates, which are intended, based on an abbreviated analysis, to provide an indication of our opinion regarding creditworthiness of a company which does not currently have a Ratings credit rating.

Non-transaction revenue primarily includes fees for surveillance of a credit rating, annual fees for customer relationship-based pricing programs, fees for entity credit ratings and global research and analytics at CRISIL.

Market Intelligence

Market Intelligence's portfolio of capabilities are designed to help investment professionals, government agencies, corporations and universities track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform evaluations and assess credit risk. Key customers served by Market Intelligence include investment managers, investment banks, private equity firms, insurance companies, commercial banks, corporations, professional services firms, government agencies and regulators.

Market Intelligence includes the following business lines:

• Desktop — a product suite that provides data, analytics and third-party research for global finance professionals, which includes the Market Intelligence Desktop (which are inclusive of the S&P Capital IQ and SNL Desktop products);

• Data Management Solutions — integrated bulk data feeds and application programming interfaces that can be customized, which includes Compustat, GICS, Point In Time Financials and CUSIP; and

• Credit Risk Solutions — commercial arm that sells Ratings' credit ratings and related data, analytics and research, which includes subscription-based offerings, RatingsDirect® and RatingsXpress®; and Credit Analytics.

Subscription revenue at Market Intelligence is primarily derived from distribution of data, analytics, third-party research, and credit ratings-related information primarily through web-based channels, including Market Intelligence Desktop, RatingsDirect®, RatingsXpress®, and Credit Analytics. Non-subscription revenue at Market Intelligence is primarily related to certain advisory, pricing and analytical services.

Platts

Platts is the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodity and energy markets. Platts provides essential price data, analytics, and industry insight enabling the commodity and energy markets to perform with greater transparency and efficiency. Key customers served by Platts include producers, traders and intermediaries within the energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture markets.

Platts' revenue is generated primarily through the following sources:

• Subscription revenue — primarily from subscriptions to our real-time news, market data and price assessments, along with other information products;

• Sales usage-based royalties — primarily from licensing of our proprietary market price data and price assessments to commodity exchanges; and

• Non-subscription revenue — conference sponsorship, consulting engagements, and events.

Indices

Indices is a global index provider maintaining a wide variety of indices to meet an array of investor needs. Indices’ mission is to provide transparent benchmarks to help with decision making, collaborate with the financial community to create innovative products and provide investors with tools to monitor world markets.

Indices derives revenue from asset-linked fees when investors direct funds into its proprietary designed or owned indexes, sales-usage royalties of its indices, and to a lesser extent data subscription arrangements. Specifically, Indices generates revenue from the following sources:

*•*Investment vehicles — asset-linked fees such as exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and mutual funds, that are based on the S&P Dow Jones Indices' benchmarks that generate revenue through fees based on assets and underlying funds;

• Exchange traded derivatives — generate sales usage-based royalties based on trading volumes of derivatives contracts listed on various exchanges;

• Index-related licensing fees — fixed or variable annual and per-issue asset-linked fees for over-the-counter derivatives and retail-structured products; and

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• Data and customized index subscription fees — fees from supporting index fund management, portfolio analytics and research.

Segment and Geographic Data

The relative contribution of our reportable segments to operating revenue, operating profit, long-lived assets and geographic area for the three years ended December 31, 2020 are included in Note 12 – Segment and Geographic Information to the consolidated financial statements under Item 8, Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 23,000 permanent employees located worldwide, including around 14,550 in Asia, 5,550 in the U.S., 2,100 in the European region, and 800 in the rest of the world.

We invest in our success as a global Company by investing in our employees across the world through our “people first” approach to human capital management, aimed at supporting everyone who works for us to reach their full potential.

Board Oversight & Management Implementation of Human Capital Strategy

Our Board of Directors and Company management view effective human capital management as critical to the Company’s ability to execute its strategy.

As a result, the Board of Directors and the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee oversee and regularly engage with our CEO, Chief People Officer and senior leadership on a broad range of human capital management topics, including culture, talent and performance management, succession planning, compensation and benefits, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement and retention.

At the management level, our Chief People Officer is responsible for leading the development and execution of the Company’s human capital management strategy, also referred to as our “People” strategy, working together with other senior leaders across the Company. Among other things, this includes promoting an inclusive and performance-driven workplace culture; managing the Company’s initiatives to attract, recruit, develop and retain the high-quality talent needed to ensure S&P Global is equipped with the right skillsets and intellectual capital to deliver on current and future business needs; and overseeing the design of the Company’s compensation, benefits and wellness programs. In connection with these responsibilities, the Chief People Officer also partners with our Corporate Responsibility & Diversity team on the development and execution of the Company’s diversity and inclusion roadmap and works closely with the CEO on executive succession planning and development of the talent succession pipeline for the Company’s Operating Committee.

The Company’s short-term incentive plan further reflects the significant role our people play in driving our enterprise strategy to Power the Markets of the Future by linking executive pay outcomes under our enterprise and division balanced scorecards to the achievement of strategic people priorities. In 2020, we focused on delivering on the following strategic People priorities:

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• Creating an inclusive performance-driven culture that drives employee engagement and aligns with our purpose of accelerating progress in the world;

• Promoting career mobility and attracting and retaining the best people; and

• Improving diversity in overall representation through talent acquisition, advancement and retention.

To achieve our strategic people objectives, we support our employees through human capital management strategies that include diversity and inclusion initiatives, learning and development programs, competitive compensation and benefits programs, workplace health and safety measures, and mechanisms for talent retention, engagement and management accountability. Examples of some of our key initiatives and programs in these focus areas are included below.

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)

Our ability to attract and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce is critical to our long-term strategy, driving business growth and innovation and empowering our people to achieve their full potential. In connection with our commitment to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, we have taken the following steps to foster an environment where our people can bring their whole selves to work:

• In 2019, we merged our Corporate Responsibility and D&I teams, in recognition of the critical importance of diversity to our firm’s standing and future. Our People team partners with Corporate Responsibility & Diversity to lead our global D&I efforts. These efforts focus on hiring and retaining diverse talent, building an inclusive culture and enabling our people to advance their careers with us. In 2020, we have increased the people and resources devoted to our D&I programs and initiatives.

• An executive D&I Council, co-chaired by our CEO and Chief People Officer, directs and oversees our enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion strategy, advancing and ensuring coordination and accountability for diversity and inclusion programs across the organization.

• We also measure progress on our diversity and inclusion programs as part of our enterprise and division balanced scorecards, which are reviewed by the CEO quarterly and the Board at least biannually, and impact short-term incentive compensation.

• We connect colleagues across our organization through our employee resource groups. These global and employee-led networks offer career experiences and network-building opportunities that foster professional development and support workplace diversity.

Learning and Development Programs

We are committed to continuous learning and invest in development tools and programs at every level across our organization to help employees expand their knowledge, skills and experience and guide career advancement in support of our long-term strategy.

• Technology Training - We offer internal technology training programs to enhance the technology skills of our workforce and accelerate our ability to solve complex problems using a multidisciplinary blend of data inference, algorithm development and technology education for all employees.

• Career Coaching - We launched a career coaching program, offering customized support through global career coaches, to empower people to take ownership of their career and help them navigate their career path and opportunities to grow within S&P Global.

• Leadership Development - We invest in developing leaders at all levels of our organization through targeted programs designed to foster leadership excellence in career managers, develop emerging leaders and strengthen our executive talent bench, providing a robust internal succession pipeline for our Operating Committee.

Competitive Compensation and Benefits Programs

We believe compensation and benefits programs are critical to the overall employee experience. Offering market competitive, people-centric and performance driven compensation and benefits is key to our recruitment, talent management and retention strategies. As a result, management regularly assesses employee feedback, competitor research and market data to ensure our programs remain competitive and are designed with our people’s physical, financial, work-life, mental and emotional health and wellbeing in mind. Based on these insights, we have introduced new and enhanced “people first” benefits in 2018 through 2020 to advance employees’ wellbeing at work and beyond in support of our “people first” philosophy.

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Workplace Health and Safety

The health and safety of our people working around the globe is a top priority, and our facilities worldwide follow rigorous, internally and externally audited, occupational health and safety policies.

We also recognize that protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees is crucial to our ability to ensure crises like the global COVID-19 pandemic are effectively managed. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we established a crisis management committee in January to lead a coordinated workplace safety strategy and acted quickly implementing significant changes across the organization to protect our people and the communities in which we operate.

As a result of these actions, a majority of our people were working from home by late March and continue to work remotely, as we evolve our preparedness strategy for office reopenings to integrate key learnings, safety measures and employee feedback to rethink the future of work. In 2020, we also appointed our first Chief Medical Advisor to help inform decision-making on the Company’s pandemic response, hosted bi-weekly global town halls to keep our people informed about health, safety and remote working logistics, and introduced expanded health and wellness benefits to help our people cope with the health impacts of COVID-19, including:

• Expanding global care leave to 10 business days caring for a sick or healthy family member;

• Increasing minimum global sick leave to 10 paid business days while being treated for COVID-19;

• Committing to pay any employees who contract COVID-19;

• Committing to provide unlimited paid leave following loss of a loved one, and three months’ pay to family members following loss of an employee;

• Providing added flexibility for those working from home while caring for children/family; and

• Expanding telemedicine resources and access to mental health services.

Retention and Engagement

In order to attract and retain the high-quality talent needed to execute our long-term strategy to Power the Markets of the Future, we believe it is critical for our people to feel motivated and empowered. As a result, we strive to create a unified and inclusive workplace culture that promotes employee engagement, satisfaction and performance; and that reflects our common corporate purpose and values of Relevance, Integrity and Excellence.

We invite employee feedback through a variety of channels for open communication and engagement, including small group employee round-table discussions with our business leaders and members of our Board of Directors, our annual employee VIBE survey, as well as more frequent check-ins through employee “Pulse” surveys. The annual VIBE survey allows us to track progress in critical areas, such as workplace pride and satisfaction and inclusive culture, and gather actionable insights for improvements to our people strategy. We encourage managers to share VIBE survey results with their teams, prioritize action areas and pursue solutions. To reinforce management accountability, we also track employee survey scores in our enterprise and division balanced scorecards, with outcomes against survey engagement targets impacting short-term incentive outcomes.

Available Information

The Company's investor kit includes Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Proxy Statements, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, the current earnings release and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. For online access, go to http://investor.spglobal.com. Requests for printed copies, free of charge, can be e-mailed to investor.relations@spglobal.com or mailed to Investor Relations, S&P Global Inc., 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041-0001. Interested parties can also call Investor Relations toll-free at 866-436-8502 (domestic callers) or 212-438-2192 (international callers). The information on our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be part hereof or incorporated into this or any of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Access to more than 10 years of the Company's filings made with the SEC is available through the Company's Investor Relations website. Go to http://investor.spglobal.com and click on the SEC Filings link. In addition, these filings are available to the public on the Commission's website through their EDGAR filing system at www.sec.gov. Interested parties may also read and copy materials that the Company has filed with the SEC at the SEC's public reference room located at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549 on official business days between the hours of 10AM and 3PM. Please call the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room.

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The following risk factors and other information included in this annual report on Form 10-K should be carefully considered. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. These risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or which we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business operations.

We operate in the capital and commodities markets. The capital markets include asset managers, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, exchanges, trading firms, and issuers; the commodities markets include producers, traders and intermediaries within energy, metals, petrochemicals and agriculture. Certain risk factors are applicable to certain of our individual segments while other risk factors are applicable Company-wide.

Merger Risks

The Merger is subject to conditions, some or all of which may not be satisfied, or completed on a timely basis, if at all. Failure to complete, or unexpected delays in completing, the merger or any termination of the Merger Agreement could have material adverse effects on us.

On November 29, 2020, we, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Sapphire Subsidiary, Ltd., a Bermuda exempted company limited by shares (the “Merger Sub”), and IHS Markit, entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended on January 20, 2021, the “Merger Agreement”), pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into IHS Markit, with IHS Markit surviving such merger as a wholly-owned, our direct subsidiary. Completion of the Merger is subject to a number of conditions, including, among other things, the receipt of approval from our shareholders and the shareholders of IHS Markit, and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, as well as the accuracy of all representations and warranties of IHS Markit and the absence of a material adverse effect since the date of the merger agreement, which make the completion and timing of the Merger uncertain. In addition, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could delay the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The failure to satisfy all of the required conditions could delay the completion of the merger for a significant period of time or prevent it from occurring at all. There can be no assurance that the conditions to the completion of the Merger will be satisfied or waived or that the Merger will be completed.

In addition, either S&P Global or IHS Markit may terminate the Merger Agreement under certain circumstances, including if the Merger is not completed by the outside date determined pursuant to the Merger Agreement. In certain circumstances, upon termination of the Merger Agreement, S&P Global would be required to pay a termination fee of $2.380 billion to IHS Markit, and in certain circumstances, IHS Markit would be required to pay a termination fee of $1.075 billion to S&P Global, upon termination of the Merger Agreement, each as contemplated by the Merger Agreement.

Moreover, at any time before or after the completion of the Merger, and notwithstanding the termination of applicable waiting periods, the applicable U.S. or foreign regulatory authorities or any state attorney general could take such action under antitrust or other applicable laws as such party deems necessary or desirable in the public interest. Such action could include, among other things, seeking to enjoin the completion of the merger or seeking divestiture of substantial assets of the parties.

In addition, shareholders of both S&P Global and IHS Markit have initiated private actions challenging, seeking to enjoin or seeking to impose conditions on the Merger. We may be required to devote significant resources to resolve such matters which may have a negative effect on our ability to complete the Merger and if we do complete the Merger may have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

If the Merger is not completed, we may be materially adversely affected and, without realizing any of the benefits of having completed the Merger, will be subject to a number of risks, including the following: the market price of our common stock could decline; if the Merger agreement is terminated and our board seeks another business combination, shareholders cannot be certain that we will be able to find a party willing to enter into a transaction on terms equivalent to or more attractive than the terms that IHS Markit has agreed to in the Merger Agreement; we will not realize the benefit of the time and resources, financial and otherwise, committed by our management to matters relating to the Merger that could have been devoted to pursuing other beneficial opportunities; we may experience negative reactions from the financial markets or from their respective customers, suppliers or employees; and we will be required to pay its expenses relating to the Merger, such as legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, whether or not the Merger is completed.

In addition, if the Merger is not completed, we could be subject to litigation related to any failure to complete the Merger or related to any enforcement proceeding commenced against such party to perform its obligations under the Merger Agreement. Any of these risks could materially and adversely impact our ongoing business, financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our common stock. Similarly, delays in the completion of the Merger could, among other things, result in

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additional transaction costs, loss of revenue or other negative effects associated with delay and uncertainty about completion of the merger and could materially and adversely impact our ongoing business, financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our common stock.

We are subject to business uncertainties and contractual restrictions while the Merger is pending, which could adversely affect our business and operations.

In connection with the pendency of the Merger, it is possible that some customers, suppliers, partners and other persons with whom we have a business relationship may delay or defer certain business decisions or might decide to seek to terminate, change or renegotiate their relationships with us as a result of the Merger or otherwise, which could negatively affect our revenue, earnings and/or cash flow, as well as the market price of our common stock, regardless of whether the Merger is completed. In addition, under the terms of the Merger Agreement, we are subject to certain restrictions on the conduct of its business prior to completing the Merger, which may adversely affect our ability to execute certain of its business strategies, including the ability in certain cases to acquire or dispose of assets or pay dividends or incur capital expenditures above a certain amount. Such limitations could adversely our business and operations prior to the completion of the Merger.

We may be unable to successfully integrate the businesses of S&P Global and IHS Markit or realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger.

The success of the Merger will depend, in part, on our ability to successfully combine and integrate our existing business with that of IHS Markit, and realize the anticipated benefits, including synergies, cost savings, innovation and technological opportunities and operational efficiencies from the Merger in a manner that does not materially disrupt existing customer, supplier and employee relations and does not result in decreased revenues due to losses of, or decreases in demand by, customers. Our ability to realize these anticipated benefits is subject to certain risks, including whether we will perform as expected, the possibility that we paid more for IHS Markit than the value we will derive from the Merger and the assumption of known and unknown liabilities of IHS Markit. If we are unable to achi

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None.

Our corporate headquarters are located in leased premises located at 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041. We lease office facilities at 99 locations; 28 are in the U.S. In addition, we own real property at 6 locations, of which 1 is in the U.S. Our properties consist primarily of office space used by each of our segments. We believe that all of our facilities are well maintained and are suitable and adequate for our current needs.

For information on our legal proceedings, see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies under Item 8, Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

For the disclosure of environmental proceedings with a governmental entity as a party pursuant to Item 103(c)(3)(iii) of Regulation S-K, we have elected to disclose matters where we reasonably believe such proceeding would result in monetary sanctions, exclusive of interest and costs, of $1.0 million or more.

Not applicable.

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Information about our Executive Officers

The following individuals are the executive officers of the Company:

Mr. Berisford, prior to becoming President of S&P Global Ratings on November 3, 2015, was Executive Vice President, Human Resources since 2011. Prior to that, he held senior management positions at PepsiCo, including Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Pepsi Beverages Company.

Ms. Cheung, prior to becoming President, S&P Global Market Intelligence on January 2, 2019, was Head of Global Risk Services, S&P Global’s Chief Strategy Officer, and previously held management positions at S&P Global Ratings. Prior to joining S&P Global, she worked in the consulting industry, first in Accenture’s Financial Services Strategy group and later as a Partner at Mitchell Madison Consulting.

Mr. Draper, prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices on June 15, 2020, served as Managing Director & Global Head of Exchange Traded Funds at Invesco Distributors Inc. since June 2013.

Ms. Geduldig, prior to becoming Executive Vice President, Public Affairs on May 1, 2015, was Managing Director, Global Government and Public Policy since 2013, and Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at S&P Global Ratings. Prior to that, she was Managing Director and Head of Federal Government Relations at the Financial Services Forum.

Mr. Kocherlakota, prior to becoming Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer on January 13, 2020, was Chief Information Officer since January 1, 2018, and was Global Head of Infrastructure & Cloud and Enterprise Services since July, 2017. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Global Head of Technology Operations & Infrastructure at Visa, Inc.

Mr. Kemps, prior to becoming Executive Vice President, General Counsel at S&P Global in August 2016, served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Quanta Services, where he oversaw all legal affairs and advised the business on regulatory, ethical and compliance matters. Prior to joining Quanta, he served as General Counsel of Hess Retail Corporation and Dean Foods Company.

Ms. Luquette, prior to becoming Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer on January 9, 2020, was Senior Vice President, Chief Risk & Audit Executive for S&P Global since June 2016, and prior to that was the Chief Audit Executive for the Company, in which capacity she led the S&P Global Internal Audit function and the Ratings Risk Review function for S&P Global Ratings. Before joining the Company, Ms. Luquette was Vice President and General Auditor for Avaya, and prior to that was a Partner in PwC’s Internal Audit and Global Risk Management Services practices.

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Ms. Manis, prior to becoming Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer on May 15, 2018, was the Chief Human Resources Officer for Revlon Inc. Prior to joining Revlon, she served as Senior Vice President for Global Talent at Estée Lauder Companies. She previously worked at OpenLink and Thomson Reuters.

Mr. Peterson, prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer on November 1, 2013, was President of S&P Global Ratings (then known as Standard & Poor's Ratings Services) since 2011. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer of Citibank, NA.

Mr. Saha, prior to becoming President of S&P Global Platts in January of 2021, was Chief Financial Officer to S&P Global Platts and S&P Global Market Intelligence, responsible for leading the finance teams of both divisions, as well as being a member of both the Platts and Market Intelligence Executive Committees. Mr. Saha has held various management positions at S&P Global and S&P Global Ratings since joining the Company in 2014. Prior to that, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Mr. Steenbergen, prior to becoming Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at S&P Global in November 2016, was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Voya Financial, Inc. Prior to his role as Voya's Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Steenbergen was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer for ING Asia-Pacific and held a number of management roles for ING Group, including serving as regional general manager in Hong Kong and as a Chief Executive Officer of RVS, an ING Group company based in the Netherlands.

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PART II

Common Stock

S&P Global Inc. began trading under its new ticker symbol "SPGI" on April 28, 2016. Previously, the Company's common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the ticker symbol "MHFI". The approximate number of record holders of our common stock as of February 5, 2021 was 2,812.

The performance graph below compares our cumulative total shareholder return during the previous five years with a performance indicator of the overall market (i.e., S&P 500), and our peer group. The peer group consists of the following companies: Moody’s Corporation, CME Group Inc., MSCI Inc., FactSet Research Systems Inc., IHS Markit Ltd., Verisk Analytics, Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Returns assume $100 invested on December 31, 2015 and total return includes reinvestment of dividends through December 31, 2020.

Dividends

We expect to continue our policy of paying regular cash dividends, although there is no assurance as to future dividend payments because they depend on future earnings, capital requirements and our financial condition. Regular quarterly dividends per share of our common stock for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:

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On January 27, 2021, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the quarterly common stock dividend from $0.67 per share to $0.77 per share.

Transfer Agent and Registrar for Common Stock

Computershare is the transfer agent for S&P Global. Computershare maintains the records for the Company's registered shareholders and can assist with a variety of shareholder related services.

Shareholder correspondence should be mailed to:

Computershare

P.O. Box 505000

Louisville, KY 40233-5000

Overnight correspondence should be mailed to:

Computershare

462 South 4th Street, Suite 1600

Louisville, KY 40202

Visit the Investor Center™ website to view and manage shareholder account information online: www.computershare.com/investor

For shareholder assistance:

Repurchase of Equity Securities

On January 29, 2020, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of 30 million shares (the "2020 Repurchase Program"), which was approximately 12% of the total shares of our outstanding common stock at that time. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we did not repurchase any shares under the 2020 Repurchase Program and, as of December 31, 2020, 30 million shares remained under the 2020 Repurchase Program.

On December 4, 2013, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of up to 50 million shares (the "2013 Repurchase Program"), which was approximately 18% of the Company's outstanding shares at that time. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we did not repurchase any shares under our 2013 Repurchase Program. Further discussion relating to our ASR agreement can be found in Note 9 - Equity to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in the Annual Report on Form 10-K. As of December 31, 2020, 0.8 million shares remained under the 2013 Repurchase Program.

Repurchased shares may be used for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of shares for stock compensation plans and to offset the dilutive effect of the exercise of employee stock options. Our 2013 and 2020 Repurchase Programs have no expiration date and purchases under these programs may be made from time to time on the open market and in private transactions, depending on market conditions.

The following table provides information on our purchases of our outstanding common stock during the fourth quarter of 2020 pursuant to our 2013 and 2020 Repurchase Programs (column c). In addition to these purchases, the number of shares in column (a) include shares of common stock that are tendered to us to satisfy our employees’ tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of awards of restricted shares (we repurchase such shares based on their fair market value on the vesting date). There were no other share repurchases during the quarter outside the repurchases noted below.

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Equity Compensation Plan

For information on securities authorized under our equity compensation plans, see Item 12, Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.

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1Includes impact of the following items: loss on the extinguishment of debt of $279 million, lease impairments of $120 million, employee severance charges of $66 million, IHS Markit merger costs of $24 million, a $16 million gain on dispositions, a technology-related impairment charge of $12 million, lease-related costs of $11 million, Kensho retention related expense of $11 million, a pension related charge of $3 million and amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $123 million.

2Includes the impact of the following items: a pension related charge of $113 million, costs associated with early repayment of our Senior Notes of $56 million, a $49 million gain on dispositions, employee severance charges of $25 million, Kensho retention related expense of $21 million, lease impairments of $11 million, acquisition-related costs of $4 million and amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $122 million.

3Includes the impact of the following items: legal settlement expenses of $74 million, Kensho retention related expense of $31 million, restructuring charges related to a business disposition and employee severance charges of $25 million, lease impairments of $11 million, a pension related charge of $5 million and amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $122 million.

4Includes the impact of the following items: legal settlement expenses of $55 million, employee severance charges of $44 million, a charge to exit leased facilities of $25 million, non-cash acquisition and disposition-related adjustments of $15 million, a pension related charge of $8 million, an asset write-off of $2 million and amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $98 million.

5Includes the impact of the following items: a $1.1 billion gain from our dispositions, a benefit related to net legal settlement insurance recoveries of $10 million, disposition-related costs of $48 million, a technology-related impairment charge of $24 million, employee severance charges of $6 million, a $3 million disposition-related reserve release, an acquisition-related cost of $1 million and amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $96 million.

6Includes $4 million of tax benefit related to prior year divestitures in 2020 and $149 million of tax expense due to U.S. tax reform, primarily associated with the deemed repatriation of foreign earnings, which was partially offset by a $21 million tax benefit related to prior year divestitures in 2017.

7Includes the impact of the $16 million gain on dispositions in 2020, the $49 million gain on dispositions in 2019 and the $1.1 billion gain on dispositions in 2016.

8Working capital is calculated as current assets less current liabilities.

9Includes short-term debt of $399 million as of December 31, 2017.

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The following Management's Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) provides a narrative of the results of operations and financial condition of S&P Global Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The MD&A should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”).

The MD&A includes the following sections:

• Overview

• Results of Operations

• Liquidity and Capital Resources

• Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Information

• Critical Accounting Estimates

• Recent Accounting Standards

Certain of the statements below are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, any projections of future results of operations and cash flows are subject to substantial uncertainty. See Forward-Looking Statements on page 4 of this report.

OVERVIEW

We are a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The capital markets include asset managers, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, exchanges, trading firms and issuers; and the commodity markets include producers, traders and intermediaries within energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture.

Our operations consist of four reportable segments: S&P Global Ratings ("Ratings"), S&P Global Market Intelligence ("Market Intelligence"), S&P Global Platts ("Platts") and S&P Dow Jones Indices ("Indices").

• Ratings is an independent provider of credit ratings, research and analytics, offering investors and other market participants information, ratings and benchmarks.

• Market Intelligence is a global provider of multi-asset-class data, research and analytical capabilities, which integrate cross-asset analytics and desktop services.

• Platts is the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodity and energy markets.

• Indices is a global index provider maintaining a wide variety of valuation and index benchmarks for investment advisors, wealth managers and institutional investors.

Major Portfolio Changes

The following significant changes were made to our portfolio during the three years ended December 31, 2020:

• In January of 2020, we completed the acquisition of the ESG Ratings Business from RobecoSAM, which includes the widely followed SAM* Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices. The acquisition will bolster our position as the premier resource for essential environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") insights and product solutions for our customers. Through this acquisition, we will be able to offer our customers even more transparent, robust and comprehensive ESG solutions.

• In April of 2018, we acquired Kensho Technologies Inc. ("Kensho") for approximately $550 million, net of cash acquired, in a mix of cash and stock. Kensho is a leading-edge provider of next-generation analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data visualization systems to Wall Street's premier global banks and investment institutions, as well as the National Security community. Beginning in the first quarter of 2019, the contract obligations for revenue from Kensho's major customers were transferred to Market Intelligence for fulfillment. As a result of this transfer, from January 1, 2019 revenue from contracts with Kensho’s customers is reflected in Market Intelligence’s results. In 2018, the revenue from contracts with Kensho’s customers was reported in Corporate revenue.

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Shareholder Return

During the three years ended December 31, 2020, we have returned approximately $5.8 billion to our shareholders through a combination of share repurchases and our quarterly dividends: we completed share repurchases of approximately $4.1 billion and distributed regular quarterly dividends totaling approximately $1.7 billion. Also, on January 27, 2021 the Board of Directors approved an increase in the quarterly common stock dividend from $0.67 per share to $0.77 per share.

Key Results

1 % changes in the tables throughout the MD&A are calculated off of the actual number, not the rounded number presented.

2 2020 includes lease impairments of $120 million, employee severance charges of $66 million, IHS Markit merger costs of $24 million, a gain on dispositions $16 million, a technology-related impairment charge of $12 million, lease-related costs of $11 million and Kensho retention related expense of $11 million. 2019 includes a gain on the sale of RigData and SPIAS of $27 million and $22 million, respectively, employee severance charges of $25 million, Kensho retention related expense of $21 million, lease impairments of $11 million and acquisition-related costs of $4 million. 2018 includes legal settlement expenses of $74 million, Kensho retention related expense of $31 million, restructuring charges related to a business disposition and employee severance charges of $25 million and lease impairments of $11 million. 2020 also includes amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $123 million and 2019 and 2018 includes amortization of intangibles from acquisitions of $122 million.

2020

Revenue increased 11%, with a favorable benefit of 1 percentage point from the net impact of recent acquisitions and dispositions, driven by increases at all of our reportable segments. Revenue growth at Ratings was mainly driven by higher corporate bond ratings revenue, partially offset by a decrease in bank loan ratings revenue and structured finance transaction revenues. Revenue growth at Market Intelligence was driven by annualized contract value growth in Market Intelligence Desktop products, Credit Risk Solutions and Data Management Solutions. Revenue growth at Indices was due to higher assets under management for exchange traded funds ("ETFs") and mutual funds, an increase in exchange-traded derivatives revenue and higher data subscription revenue. The revenue increase at Platts was primarily due to continued demand for market data, price assessment and analytics products. Foreign exchange rates had a favorable impact of less than 1 percentage point.

Operating profit increased 12%, with a favorable impact from foreign exchange rates of 1 percentage point. Excluding the impact of a higher lease impairment charges in 2020 of 3 percentage points, higher employee severance charges in 2020 of 1 percentage point, a higher gain on dispositions in 2019 of 1 percentage point primarily related to the sale of RigData and Stan

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Our exposure to market risk includes changes in foreign exchange rates. We have operations in various foreign countries where the functional currency is primarily the local currency. For international operations that are determined to be extensions of the parent company, the U.S. dollar is the functional currency. We typically have naturally hedged positions in most countries from a local currency perspective with offsetting assets and liabilities. During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we entered into foreign exchange forward contracts in order to mitigate the change in fair value of specific assets and liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet. These forward contracts are not designated as hedges and do not qualify for hedge accounting. During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we entered into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge the effect of adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we entered into cross-currency swap contracts to hedge a portion of our net investment in a foreign subsidiary against volatility in foreign exchange rates. We have not entered into any derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes. See Note 6 – Derivative Instruments to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion.

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of S&P Global Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of S&P Global Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our report dated February 9, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the account or disclosures to which it relates.

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None.

We have filed the required certifications under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 incorporated herein by reference from Exhibits (31.1) and (31.2) to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition we have filed the required certifications under Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 incorporated herein by reference from Exhibit (32) to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

This Item 9A. includes information concerning the controls and control evaluations referred to in the required certifications.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed so that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

As of December 31, 2020, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Based on that evaluation, management, including the CEO and CFO, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2020.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act, management is required to provide the following report on our internal control over financial reporting:

1.Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting.

2.Management has evaluated the effectiveness of the system of internal control using the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission 2013 framework (“COSO 2013 framework”). Management has selected the COSO 2013 framework for its evaluation as it is a control framework recognized by the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that is free from bias, permits reasonably consistent qualitative and quantitative measurement of our internal controls, is sufficiently complete so that relevant controls are not omitted and is relevant to an evaluation of internal controls over financial reporting.

3.Based on management’s evaluation under this framework, management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2020. There are no material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that have been identified by management.

4.Our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, has audited our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, and has issued their reports on the financial statements and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. These reports are located on pages 66, 67 and 68 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT DISCLOSURE

Pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, which amended the Exchange Act, an issuer is required to disclose in its annual or quarterly reports, as applicable, whether, during the reporting period, it or any of

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its affiliates knowingly engaged in certain activities, transactions or dealings relating to Iran or with individuals or entities designated pursuant to certain Executive Orders. Disclosure is generally required even where the activities, transactions or dealings were conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Revenue in 2020 attributable to the transactions or dealings by the Company described below was approximately $10,175 with net profit from such sales being a fraction of the revenues.

During 2020, Platts, a division of the Company that provides energy-related information in over 150 countries, sold information and informational materials, which are generally exempt from U.S. economic sanctions, to subscribers that are owned or controlled, or appear to be owned or controlled, by the Government of Iran or are otherwise subject to disclosure pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. Platts provided such subscribers access to proprietary data, analytics, and industry information that enable commodities markets to perform with greater transparency and efficiency, generating revenue that was a de minimis portion of both the division's and the Company’s revenue. The Company will continue to monitor its provision of products and services to such subscribers.

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PART III

Information about our directors is contained under the caption “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance-Director Biographies” in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 (the “2021 Proxy Statement”) and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information under the heading “Executive Officers of the Registrant” in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is also incorporated herein by reference.

Code of Ethics

We have adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to our CEO, CFO, chief accounting officer and senior financial officers. To access such code, go to the Corporate Governance section of our Investor Relations website at http://investor.spglobal.com. Any waivers that may in the future be granted from such Code and amendments thereto will be posted at such website address. In addition to our Code of Ethics for the CEO and senior financial officers noted above, the following documents may be found on our website at the above website address:

• Code of Business Ethics for all employees;

• Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors;

• Employee Complaint Procedures (Accounting and Auditing Matters);

• Certificate of Incorporation;

• By-Laws;

• Corporate Governance Guidelines;

• Audit Committee Charter;

• Compensation and Leadership Development Committee Charter;

• Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter;

• Financial Committee Charter; and

• Executive Committee Charter.

The foregoing documents are also available in print, free of charge, to any shareholder who requests them. Requests for printed copies may be e-mailed to corporate.secretary@spglobal.com or mailed to the Corporate Secretary, S&P Global Inc., 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041-0001.

Information about the procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to our Board of Directors can be found in our 2021 Proxy Statement under the caption “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance-Committees of the Board of Directors-Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information concerning the composition of the Audit Committee and our Audit Committee financial experts is contained in our 2021 Proxy Statement under the caption “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance-Committees of the Board of Directors-Audit Committee” and is incorporated herein by reference.

New York Stock Exchange Certification

Promptly following the 2021 annual meeting of shareholders, we intend to file with the NYSE the CEO certification regarding our compliance with the NYSE’s corporate governance listing standards as required by NYSE Rule 303A.12. Last year, we filed this CEO certification with the NYSE on June 17, 2020.

Information about director and executive officer compensation, Compensation Committee interlocks and the Compensation Committee Report is contained in our 2021 Proxy Statement under the captions “2020 Director Compensation,” “Board of

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Directors and Corporate Governance-Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation,” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Set forth below is information with respect to securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans:

The following table details our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2020:

1Shares to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options under our Stock Incentive Plans.

2Included in this number are 508,152 shares reserved for issuance under the Director Deferred Stock Ownership Plan. The remaining 19,668,501 shares are reserved for issuance under the 2019 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”) for Performance Stock, Restricted Stock, Other Stock-Based Awards, Stock Options and Stock Appreciation Rights.

3Under the terms of the 2019 Plan, shares subject to an award or shares paid in settlement of a dividend equivalent reduce the number of shares available under the 2019 Plan by one share for each such share granted or paid.

The 2019 Plan is also governed by certain share recapture provisions. The aggregate number of shares of stock available under the 2019 Plan for issuance are increased by the number of shares of stock granted as an award under the 2019 Plan that are:

• forfeited, cancelled, settled in cash or property other than stock, or otherwise not distributable under the 2019 Plan;

• tendered or withheld to pay the exercise or purchase price of an award under the 2019 Plan or to satisfy applicable wage or other required tax withholding in connection with the exercise, vesting or payment of, or other event related to, an award under the 2019 Plan; or

• repurchased by us with the option proceeds in respect of the exercise of a stock option under the 2019 Plan.

Information on the number of shares our common stock beneficially owned by each director and named executive officer, by all directors and executive officers as a group and on each beneficial owner of more than 5% of our common stock is contained under the caption “Ownership of Company Stock” in our 2021 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information with respect to certain relationships and related transactions and director independence is contained under the captions “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance-Transactions with Related Persons” in our 2021 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, Ernst & Young LLP audited the consolidated financial statements of the Registrant and its subsidiaries.

Information on our Audit Committee’s pre-approval policy for audit services and information on our principal accountant fees and services is contained in our 2021 Proxy Statement under the caption “Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm’s Fees and Services” and is incorporated herein by reference.

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PART IV

(a) Documents filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

1.Financial Statements

• Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

• Consolidated Statements of Income for the three years ended December 31, 2020

• Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the three years ended December 31, 2020

• Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019

• Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three years ended December 31, 2020

• Consolidated Statements of Equity for the three years ended December 31, 2020

• Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

2.Financial Schedule

• Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

All other schedules have been omitted since the required information is not present or not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedule, or because the information required is included in the consolidated financial statements or the notes thereto.

3.Exhibits – The exhibits filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K are listed in the Exhibit Index immediately preceding such Exhibits, and such Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.

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S&P Global

Schedule II – Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

(in millions)

1Primarily includes uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries, impact of acquisitions and divestitures and adjustments for foreign currency translation.

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• These exhibits relate to management contracts or compensatory plan arrangements.

** Schedules and exhibits omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company agrees to furnish a supplemental copy of any omitted schedule to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) upon request.

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None.

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

February 9, 2021

Each individual whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Douglas L. Peterson and Ewout L. Steenbergen, and each of them singly, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents with full power of substitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all the said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them or their or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed on February 9, 2021 on behalf of the Registrant by the following persons who signed in the capacities as set forth below under their respective names.