ESMA issues today its Guidelines on endorsement (ESMA/2011/139) in a Final Report, including a Feedback Statement.

The Guidelines address how ESMA will implement the “as stringent as” test for credit ratings produced outside the European Union, in what are named “third countries”. These credit ratings are used by financial institutions to assess the risk of their exposures and in calculating their capital requirements. The test requires that the credit rating activities performed by Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) outside the European Union are subject to requirements established by law which are “as stringent as” those applicable in the EU.

Read full ESMA Press Release.