CHAPTER IIIFORMAT OF REPORTING
Article 7Qualitative data
1.
A credit rating agency shall provide qualitative data reports in the format specified in Table 1 of Annex I. In particular, a credit rating agency shall provide qualitative data on its rating scale explaining the individual characteristics and the meaning of each rating. A credit rating agency may report up to six rating scales. No more than one rating scale may be reported in respect of any particular combination of time horizon and rating type.
2.
Where a credit rating agency issues ratings for a particular time horizon and rating type using more than one rating scale, it shall report in its qualitative data reports only the rating scale used for the numerical majority of such ratings. Ratings shall not be reported in rating data reports where they use a rating scale that has not been reported pursuant to this paragraph.
3.
A rating scale contains an undetermined number of broad rating categories that may include as subcategories an undetermined number of notches. A credit rating agency shall report both rating categories and notches where applicable.
Article 8Rating data
1.
A credit rating agency shall provide rating data reports for ratings referred to in Article 3 in the format specified in Table 1 of Annex II.
2.
For the purpose of field 12 of Table 1 of Annex II, a credit rating agency shall report a default in respect of a rating where one of the following events has occurred:
(a)
the rating indicates that a default has occurred according to the credit rating agency’s definition of default;
(b)
the rating has been withdrawn due to insolvency of the rated entity or due to debt restructuring;
(c)
any other instance in which the credit rating agency considers a rated entity or rated instrument as defaulted, materially impaired or equivalent.
3.
All reported ratings that are withdrawn during a specific reporting period shall be accorded a reason for withdrawal under field 11 of Table 1 of Annex II. Ratings that were withdrawn before 7 September 2010 may be entered in the category ‘end of rating due to other reasons’.
Article 9Changes to and cancellations of qualitative data
1.
A credit rating agency shall report changes to and cancellations of qualitative data reported where this is necessary to:
(a)
reflect changes in qualitative data;
(b)
correct factual errors in the reporting of a rating scale.
2.
For changes in qualitative data, except data on the rating scale, a credit rating agency shall send a new report containing the updated data. A credit rating agency shall only send a new qualitative data report if there is a change in any of the data, and only the data that have changed shall be reported. In the event of a methodology change, a credit rating agency shall report the updated qualitative data and may refer to additional information on historical methodology changes provided on its website.
3.
Where a change of a rating scale occurs limited to the labels of categories or notches a credit rating agency shall send the qualitative data report containing an updated record of the previous rating scale (identified by its unique rating identifier) modifying the labels or descriptions as appropriate. The other fields relating to the rating scale shall be included in the report with no changes. A credit rating agency shall use the fields specified in Table 1 of Annex I.
4.
Where a material change to a rating scale occurs, a credit rating agency shall declare a new rating scale and perform the following steps:
(a)
a qualitative file with an updated record of the previous rating scale modifying the end validity date to the date of the end of the previous reporting period shall be sent. The credit rating agency shall use the fields specified in Table 1 of Annex I;
(b)
the credit rating agency shall report the new rating scale with a new unique identifier and a start validity date of the first reporting period for which it is valid;
(c)
once the credit rating agency has received the feedback file from the central repository confirming that the new rating scale has been accepted, it shall send the rating data files corresponding to the first reporting period to which the new rating scale applies using the new rating scale.
5.
Where a rating scale is cancelled, a credit rating agency shall perform the following steps:
(a)
the cancellation shall take place before the credit rating agency reports any rating data to the central repository relating to that rating scale. In case rating data have already been reported, the credit rating agency has to cancel all rating data using the previous rating scale;
(b)
the credit rating agency shall send the qualitative data file containing the cancellation of the rating scale. The credit rating agency shall use the field specified in Table 2 of Annex I.
Article 10Cancellation of rating data and historical reporting of rating data
1.
Where factual errors are identified in the rating data that has been reported, a credit rating agency shall report the cancellation of that rating data and shall replace the cancelled rating data.
2.
When cancelling rating data a credit rating agency shall take one of the following measures:
(a)
in case of a rating record of the current reporting period, a credit rating agency shall use the fields specified of Table 2 of Annex II. Once the original record has been cancelled, it shall send a new version of the record;
(b)
in case of a rating record of previous reporting periods, a credit rating agency may cancel the original rating data for all reported periods using the field specified of Table 2 of Annex II including the reason for the cancellation and then replace the original version of the record in all periods using the procedure described in Article 3(4).
3.
When reporting rating data retroactively, a credit rating agency shall add to the rating fields the historical reporting period of the rating and the reason for the reporting of historical rating data, as specified in fields 24 and 25 of Table 1 of Annex II.