[author: Bethan Saunders]

On May 17, 2016, the European Banking Authority published a decision confirming that the unsolicited credit assessments of certain external credit assessment institutions (“ECIAs”) do not differ in quality from their solicited credit assessments with regard to the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013).

The published decision annexes 22 ECIAs and confirms that in respect of those listed, the quality of the unsolicited credit assessments does not differ from the solicited credit assessments.

The decision will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.