19 July 2018

ESMA consults on revising CRAs’ periodic reporting

In March 2015, ESMA published its first set of Guidelines on the periodic information that CRAs should submit to ESMA for the purposes of their ongoing supervision. The information received under these Guidelines is key to ensuring that ESMA is capable of efficient and effective supervision of the CRA sector.

However, since the introduction of the Guidelines in 2015, ESMA’s supervisory processes have evolved to a point where the timing, frequency, and format of the information submitted in accordance with the 2015 Guidelines is no longer capable of supporting ESMA’s supervisory processes in an efficient and effective manner. Therefore, ESMA is proposing a revision of the 2015 Guidelines. For CRAs, ESMA anticipates that these Guidelines will introduce greater proportionality in their reporting requirements, as well as greater predictability in their supervisory interactions with ESMA.

The revised Guidelines aim to achieve this through the following:  

First, by introducing a revised approach to determining a CRAs’ reporting obligations, that is based upon ESMA’s internal risk assessment; 

Second, by proposing greater differentiation in the reporting frequencies for CRAs, to ensure more proportionate reporting requirements for different entities;

Third, by providing more specific reporting instructions for a number of existing reporting requirements, to improve the consistency of the information currently provided;

Fourth, by introducing a number of new periodic reporting requirements to support ESMA’s supervisory activities, to reduce the need for ESMA to submit ad-hoc requests for information;

Fifth, by introducing standardised reporting templates for a number of new and existing reporting requirements, to ensure a streamlined approach to reporting for CRAs and a higher level of usability of the information received.

In proposing these revisions, the Consultation Paper takes a step by step approach to each area of the Guidelines. First, describing the approach under the 2015 Guidelines, second, explaining the relevance of any periodic information to ESMA’s supervisory processes and, third, outlining the changes ESMA is proposing in order to address any problems or introduce any improvements.

Further details

Comments on the Consultation Paper until 26 September 2018. Following this, it is expected that ESMA will publish the Final Report on the Guidelines before the end of 2018.  

Full consultation paper

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