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We also call for greater scrutiny over Credit Rating Agency (CRA) affiliates, insofar as their licensing agreements and unfair “bundling” practices are concerned, concluding that these entities should be scoped into the CRA Regulation. We also underline the need for ESMA and NCAs to step-up their supervision and enforcement of existing market data cost regulation (including instances where data feeds are accessed via third-party data vendors/aggregators).
For important users of credit rating information and data, such as asset managers, this should be a prelude to a coherent regulation of financial market data costs and comprehensive cost transparency rules for all data providers, including affiliates of registered CRAs among others. Greater cost transparency has become even more urgent because of the growing offer of ESG/sustainability ratings or scores by these same entities.
In
line with the “good
practices” identified in December 2019 by ESMA, as a
follow-up to its earlier Thematic Report, EFAMA thus recommends the publication
of fee schedules at the start of a service agreement, as well as on an ongoing
basis, to justify any further price increases at cost and throughout the life
of the commercial relationship.