Standard & Poor's (S& Poor's) is a leading global financial analyst and authoritative credit rating organization, formed in 1941 by the merger of Poole Publishing Company and Standard & Poor's. Headquartered in New York, S&P has a history dating back to 1860 and is now a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill. S&P created and maintains the famous S&P 500 Index, the second largest index in the United States.