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Date Ref. Title Section Type Download Info Summary Related Documents Translated versions
09/06/2010 10-333 Technical Advice- The Equivalence between the Japanese Regulatory and Supervisory Framework and the EU Regulatory Regime for Credit Rating Agencies CESR Archive, Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
4.59 MB
17/05/2011 2011/144 Final advice- ESMA´s Technical Advice to the Commission on Fees for CRAs Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
1.72 MB
07/07/2011 2011/194 Report- Mapping of the Transparency Directive Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
1.15 MB		 Report - Mapping of the Transparency Directive 
18/01/2011 2011/26 Summary Report on the mapping of contingency measures Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
93.63 KB
22/03/2012 2012/207 ESMA’s Report on the Supervision of Credit Rating Agencies Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
323.81 KB		 This report provides an overview of ESMA’s supervisory activity on Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) registered in the European Union and summarises the results of ESMA’s first examination of the three groups of registered CRAs (Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Services, and Standard & Poor's Rating Services). The examination referred to in this document is the first step in an ongoing supervisory process conducted by ESMA and therefore does not represent a full scope investigation. The observations set forth in this Report refer to common issues affecting CRAs activities. As of the date of this document, ESMA has not determined whether any observation highlighted below constitutes a breach of the provisions of the Regulation. ESMA is still progressing in its assessment of the areas discussed in this Report. This Report is not based on a decision by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors; therefore it is published without prejudice to the possibility of further investigations which could lead to enforcement or supervisory actions.
18/04/2012 2012/259 Technical advice on CRA regulatory equivalence- US, Canada and Australia Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
697.78 KB		 On 12 June 2009 the European Commission requested CESR, now ESMA, to provide its technical advice on the equivalence between the legal and supervisory framework of Japan, The United States, and Canada with the EU regulatory regime for credit rating agencies. (Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council on credit rating agencies ). On 17 November 2009, the Commission also requested CESR to provide its technical advice on Australia. On 28 September 2010, the European Commission published an equivalence decision on Japan. With regard to the compliance with the EU requirements on endorsement, ESMA had already indicated that it considers the legal and regulatory regime for CRAs supervision of the following countries as “as stringent as” the EU requirements:        - On 22 December 2011, Japan and Australia;        - On 15 March 2012, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. This report sets out ESMA’s advice to the European Commission in respect of the equivalence between the US (Part I), Canada (Part II) and Australia (Part III) respective legal and supervisory frameworks and the EU regulatory regime for credit rating agencies.
26/04/2012 2012/270 Actual use of sanctioning powers under MAD Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
1.55 MB		 The report provides a comparison of the use of administrative sanctioning powers across 29 EEA Member States for 2008-2010.  The results of the report will provide input to the legislative process on the new market abuse regime.
12/01/2012 2012/3 Annual report on the application of the Regulation on credit rating agencies as provided by Article 21(5) and Article 39a of the Regulation (EU) No 1060/2009 as amended by Regulation No 1095/2010 Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
141.98 KB		 This is the first report under the new CRA regulation, however, please note that CESR published a report about the application of the Regulation in the EU and, in particular, on the implementation of the requirements established in Annex I of the Regulation on 6 December 2010 (CESR/10-1424), according to Article 21(4) of the Regulation which was subsequently amended by Regulation No (EC) 513/2011. At the time of publication, 16 CRA's have been registered.
24/05/2012 2012/300 Prospectus Directive – Good Practices in the approval process Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
467.38 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published today “Prospectus Directive – Good Practices in the approval process“,  a peer review report on the application of regulatory good practices by national supervisory authorities - competent authorities (CA)  when approving investment prospectuses.The review was conducted using good practice criteria that ESMA developed on selected areas of the Prospectus Directive dealing with the approval process for investment prospectuses.  The prospectuses provide investors with easy to understand and relevant information on investment products.  Peer review reports on national regulators’ procedures contribute to ESMA’s objective of fostering supervisory convergence and achieving a level playing field between jurisdictions.
21/11/2013 2013/1703 Technical Advice on the feasibility of a network of small and medium-sized CRAs Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
601.05 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has finalised its Technical Advice to the European Commission on the feasibility of a network of small and medium sized credit rating agencies in order to increase competition in the market. The technical advice provides quantitative and qualitative information on small and medium-sized CRAs in the EU, based on the analysis of the periodic reporting obligations of CRAs to ESMA via the central repository CEREP. It also covers some information regarding possible barriers to entry for companies that wish to conduct rating activity in the EU. Contents The main findings of the advice are: • The 22 registered CRAs are established in 11 EU Member States; • None of the small and medium-sized CRAs cover the whole range of the five rating classes considered (corporates (non-financial), financials, insurance, sovereign and public finance, and structured finance). Whilst DBRS and BCRA cover four and three classes respectively, all the remaining small and medium-sized CRAs cover one or two rating classes only. This contrasts with Fitch, Moody’s and S&P that issue ratings for all five possible rating classes; • Small and medium-sized CRAs are mainly active in issuing corporate ratings. Within this rating type, four small and medium-sized CRAs issue a relatively high number of corporate ratings (CERVED and ICAP) or financial and insurance ratings (GBB and AM Best); • Only 6 of the small and medium-sized CRAs provide sovereign ratings (BCRA, Capital Intelligence, DBRS, European Rating, Feri Euro Rating (Feri) and Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR)), whilst only one (DBRS) issues structured finance ratings; • As of end 2012 the majority of small and medium-sized CRAs issued solicited ratings only, whilst eight issued unsolicited ratings only. Three small and medium-sized CRAs (DBRS, JCR, and Scope) issued both solicited and unsolicited ratings, as was the case also for Fitch, Moody’s and S&P; • As regards geographical coverage of the small and medium-sized CRAs 6 out of 19 (AM Best, Capital Intelligence, Creditreform, DBRS, JCR and Scope) have a coverage that goes beyond one Member State when referring to corporate ratings. As regards the sovereign ratings type, three of the small and medium-sized CRAs cover more than one Member State (Capital Intelligence, Feri and JCR). In both of these ratings types, Fitch, Moody’s and S&P’s rating activities cover all Member States of the EU; • In 2013, 96% of the supervisory fees were paid by S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch, while their turnover from rating and ancillary services was equal to 88% of the total turnover of the 20 registered and certified CRAs in 2012: and • As of July 2013, 14 out of 19 small and medium-sized CRAs have been granted at least one of the regulatory exemptions provided for in the CRA Regulation. Finally, and with reference to the current situation in the segment of small and medium-sized CRAs, ESMA is not aware of any private networks of small and medium-sized CRAs currently in place.
02/12/2013 2013/1775 Sovereign ratings investigation- ESMA’s assessment of governance, conflicts of interest, resourcing adequacy and confidentiality controls Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
302.99 KB		 This report summarises the findings of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) general investigation into sovereign credit ratings issued by Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s which took place between February and October 2013, as indicated in its Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) 2013 Supervision and Policy Work Plan. In this report ESMA describes the observed deficiencies and main concerns while also identifying a number of good practices in the following areas: • the role of senior management and other non-rating functions in the rating process and the actual or potential conflicts of interest which could arise; • the actual or potential conflicts of interests generated by the involvement of sovereign analysts in research and publication activities; • confidentiality of sovereign rating information and controls in place prior to publication of ratings (including IT and access controls to confidential information); • timing of publication of sovereign ratings, including timely disclosure of rating changes; • monitoring of the adequacy and expertise of resources dedicated to sovereign ratings; • preparation of rating committees; and • definitions of roles and responsibilities among different analytical functions. ESMA’s investigation revealed shortcomings in the sovereign ratings process which could pose risks to the quality, independence and integrity of the ratings and of the rating process. As of the date of this document, ESMA has not determined whether any of the observations made in this report constitute serious indications of the possible existence of facts liable to constitute one or more infringements of the CRA Regulation.
19/12/2013 2013/1953 Technical Advice to the European Commission on the equivalence between the Argentinean regulatory and supervisory framework and the EU regulatory regime for CRAs Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
143.15 KB
18/03/2013 2013/308 Annual report on the application of the Regulation on credit rating agencies- 2012 Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
601.08 KB		 This is the second annual report on the application of the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation. 
31/05/2013 2013/626 Technical advice on CRA regulatory equivalence on Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong and Singapore Credit Rating Agencies Technical Advice PDF
840.48 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has provided advice to the European Commission in respect of the equivalence between the EU regulatory regime for credit rating agencies and the respective legal and supervisory frameworks of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong and Singapore. This is in response to the European Commission’s request for technical advice from ESMA on the equivalence of these jurisdictions legal and supervisory frameworks with the EU regulatory regime for credit rating agencies as set out in Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council on credit rating agencies.  The European Commission has already published equivalence decisions on US, Canada and Australia, on 9 October 2012, and on Japan, 28 October 2010. Regarding compliance with the EU requirements on endorsement, ESMA has already indicated that it considers the legal and regulatory regime for CRAs supervision of the following countries as “as stringent as” the EU requirements: 15 March 2012, Hong Kong and Singapore; 18 April 2012, Argentina and Mexico; 27 April 2012, Brazil.
01/07/2013 2013/805 Supervisory Practices under MAD- Peer review report and Good Practices Market Abuse, Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
1.17 MB		 ESMA's peer review of the supervisory practices EEA national competent authorities (NCAs) covers how national authorities enforce the requirements of the Market Abuse Directive (MAD).  The Directive deals with the prevention of the dissemination of misleading information, the breach of reporting obligations and market abuse.
01/07/2013 2013/806 Supervisory Practices under MAD- Mapping Report Market Abuse, Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
315.44 KB		 ESMA's Mapping Report on Supervisory Practices under MAD sets out the situation in each Member State as regards their implementation of the various requirements of the Market Abuse Directive.
23/09/2014 2014/1164 Annex Annex to the Statement by Steven Maijoor, Chair of ESMA to the ECON hearing, 23 September 2014 Corporate Information Final Report PDF
503.01 KB
11/12/2014 2014/1485 MiFID – Conduct of Business, fair, clear and not misleading information Supervisory convergence Final Report PDF
614.16 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has conducted a peer review of how national regulators (national competent authorities or NCAs) supervise MiFID conduct of business rules on providing fair, clear and not misleading information to clients. The peer review focused on NCAs’ organisation, supervisory approaches, monitoring and complaints handling in relation to information and marketing communications under MiFID. The Report found that there was overall a high degree of compliance amongst NCAs with the good practices identified in these key areas. However, a variety of approaches were observed, leading to different intensity of supervision. A number of areas for improvement were identified. They include: • enhanced use of on-site inspections and thematic reviews; • a specific focus on conduct of business issues in firms’ risk assessments; and • greater efforts to detect failings by firms in a timely manner. The review was conducted on the basis of information provided by NCAs in a self-assessment questionnaire and complemented by on-site visits to the NCAs of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
21/02/2014 2014/151 Credit Rating Agencies Annual Report 2013 Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
507.61 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Annual Report 2013 (Report) on credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the European Union (EU). The Report also outlines ESMA’s supervisory work plan for this year. ESMA has found that CRAs continue to progress in how they comply with the CRA Regulation, including improved internal transparency and disclosure to the market on credit rating activities as well as empowerment of the compliance function. However, ESMA considers that improvements are still necessary, notably in the following areas: • validation of rating methodologies, to ensure that a credit rating assessment is a comprehensive risk assessment leading to high quality ratings; • internal governance, ensuring the full independence of the internal review function and thereby reducing the risk of potential conflict of interest; and • robust IT systems to support the rating process, including information security controls and protection of confidential rating information. These issues form the basis for much of ESMA’s supervision activities as outlined in its 2014 work plan. This includes the completion of the two on-going supervisory reviews into CRAs’ monitoring of structured finance ratings and into small and medium-sized CRAs. A new thematic investigation on how CRAs review and validate their rating methodologies will also be launched, as well as dedicated work on CRAs’ IT systems and controls. Following the entry into force of the amended CRA Regulation in June 2013, ESMA will also complete a specific assessment on CRAs’ compliance with the new regulatory requirements.
16/12/2014 2014/1524 ESMA’s investigation into structured finance ratings Credit Rating Agencies Final Report PDF
436.29 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) has published this report to inform of the outcome and findings of its general investigation in the way credit rating agencies (CRAs) conduct surveillance of structured finance credit ratings, as indicated in ESMA’s Credit Rating Agencies Annual Report 2013. The investigation took place between October 2013 and September 2014 and involved the four largest CRAs providing credit ratings on structured finance instruments in the EU, namely DBRS Ratings (DBRS), Fitch Ratings (Fitch), Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). 

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