1.A credit rating agency shall apply for registration for the purposes of Article 2(1) provided that it is a legal person established in the [F1Union].
[F22. The registration shall be effective for the entire territory of the Union once the decision to register a credit rating agency adopted by ESMA as referred to in Article 16(3) or Article 17(3) has taken effect.]
3.A registered credit rating agency shall comply at all times with the conditions for initial registration.
[F2A credit rating agency shall, without undue delay, notify ESMA of any material changes to the conditions for initial registration, including any opening or closing of a branch within the Union.]
[F3Without prejudice to the second subparagraph, the credit rating agency shall notify ESMA of the intended material changes to the rating methodologies, models or key rating assumptions or the proposed new rating methodologies, models or key rating assumptions when the credit rating agency publishes the proposed changes or proposed new rating methodologies on its website in accordance with Article 8(5a). After the expiry of the consultation period, the credit rating agency shall notify ESMA of any changes due to the consultation.]
[F24. Without prejudice to Article 16 or 17, ESMA shall register the credit rating agency if it concludes from the examination of the application that the credit rating agency complies with the conditions for the issuing of credit ratings set out in this Regulation, taking into consideration Articles 4 and 6.
5. ESMA shall not impose requirements regarding registration which are not provided for in this Regulation.]
Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Regulation (EU) No 462/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 amending Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on credit rating agencies (Text with EEA relevance).
1. The credit rating agency shall submit an application for registration to ESMA. The application shall contain information on the matters set out in Annex II.
2. Where a group of credit rating agencies applies for registration, the members of the group shall mandate one of their number to submit all the applications to ESMA on behalf of the group. The mandated credit rating agency shall provide the information on the matters set out in Annex II for each member of the group.
3. A credit rating agency shall submit its application in any of the official languages of the institutions of the Union. The provisions of Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to any other communication between ESMA and the credit rating agencies and their staff.
4. Within 20 working days of receipt of the application, ESMA shall assess whether the application is complete. If the application is not complete, ESMA shall set a deadline by which the credit rating agency is to provide additional information.
After assessing an application as complete, ESMA shall notify the credit rating agency accordingly.
Textual Amendments
1. ESMA shall, within 45 working days of the notification referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(4), examine the application for registration of a credit rating agency based on the compliance of the credit rating agency with the conditions set out in this Regulation.
2. ESMA may extend the period of examination by 15 working days, in particular if the credit rating agency:
(a) envisages endorsing credit ratings as referred to in Article 4(3);
(b) envisages using outsourcing; or
(c) requests exemption from compliance in accordance with Article 6(3).
3. Within 45 working days of the notification referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(4), or within 60 working days thereof where paragraph 2 of this Article applies, ESMA shall adopt a fully reasoned decision to register or refuse registration.
4. The decision adopted by ESMA pursuant to paragraph 3 shall take effect on the fifth working day following its adoption.
Textual Amendments
1. ESMA shall, within 55 working days of the notification referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(4), examine the applications for registration of a group of credit rating agencies based on the compliance of those credit rating agencies with the conditions set out in this Regulation.
2. ESMA may extend the period of examination by 15 working days, in particular if any of the credit rating agencies in the group:
(a) envisages endorsing credit ratings as referred to in Article 4(3);
(b) envisages using outsourcing; or
(c) requests exemption from compliance in accordance with Article 6(3).
3. Within 55 working days of the notification as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(4), or within 70 working days thereof where paragraph 2 of this Article applies, ESMA shall adopt a fully reasoned individual decision to register or refuse registration for each credit rating agency of the group.
4. The decision adopted by ESMA pursuant to paragraph 3 shall take effect on the fifth working day following its adoption.
Textual Amendments
1. Within five working days of the adoption of a decision under Article 16, 17 or 20 ESMA shall notify its decision to the credit rating agency concerned. Where ESMA refuses to register the credit rating agency or withdraws the registration of the credit rating agency, it shall provide full reasons in its decision.
[F12. ESMA shall communicate to the Commission, EBA, EIOPA, the competent authorities and the sectoral competent authorities, any decision under Article 16, 17 or 20.]
3. ESMA shall publish on its website a list of credit rating agencies registered in accordance with this Regulation. That list shall be updated within five working days following the adoption of a decision under Article 16, 17 or 20. The Commission shall publish that updated list in the Official Journal of the European Union within 30 days following such update.
Textual Amendments
[F11. ESMA shall charge credit rating agencies fees in accordance with this Regulation and with the Commission regulation referred to in paragraph 2. Those fees shall fully cover ESMA’s necessary expenditure relating to the registration, certification and supervision of credit rating agencies and the reimbursement of any costs that the competent authorities may incur carrying out work pursuant to this Regulation, in particular as a result of any delegation of tasks in accordance with Article 30.]
2. The Commission shall adopt a regulation on fees. That regulation shall determine in particular the type of fees and the matters for which fees are due, the amount of the fees, the way in which they are to be paid and the way in which ESMA is to reimburse competent authorities in respect of any costs that they may incur carrying out work pursuant to this Regulation, in particular as a result of any delegation of tasks in accordance with Article 30.
The amount of a fee charged to a credit rating agency shall cover all administrative costs and be proportionate to the turnover of the credit rating agency concerned.
The Commission shall adopt the regulation on fees referred to in the first subparagraph by means of a delegated act in accordance with Article 38a and subject to the conditions of Articles 38b and 38c.
Textual Amendments
1. Without prejudice to Article 24, ESMA shall withdraw the registration of a credit rating agency where the credit rating agency:
(a) expressly renounces the registration or has provided no credit ratings for the preceding six months;
(b) obtained the registration by making false statements or by any other irregular means; or
(c) no longer meets the conditions under which it was registered.
2. The competent authority of a Member State in which credit ratings issued by the credit rating agency concerned are used and which considers that one of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 has been met may request that ESMA examine whether the conditions for the withdrawal of the registration of the credit rating agency concerned are met. If ESMA decides not to withdraw the registration of the credit rating agency concerned, it shall provide full reasons.
3. The decision on the withdrawal of registration shall take immediate effect throughout the Union, subject to the transitional period for the use of credit ratings referred to in Article 24(4).]
Textual Amendments