[author: Stephen Hancock]

On March 20, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the official translations of its consolidated guidelines on the application of the endorsement regime under Article 4(3) of the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation (Regulation 1060/2009) (CRA Regulation) (ESMA33-9-282).

The guidelines apply to CRAs established in the EU and registered with ESMA that are endorsing or that intend to endorse credit ratings issued by a third-country CRA. They apply to credit ratings issued on or after January 1 and to existing credit ratings reviewed after that date.

The guidelines have been updated with a new section (section 5.3) that sets out a non-exhaustive list of alternative internal requirements that ESMA considers to be at least as stringent as a requirement set out in one of the relevant endorsement provisions of the CRA Regulation.

ESMA published its final report containing the supplementary guidance in July 2018.