EN Official Journal of the European Union L 140/2

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 446/2012

of 21 March 2012

supplementing Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards on the content and format of ratings data periodic reporting to be submitted to the European Securities and Markets Authority by credit rating agencies

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies (1), and in particular point (e) of Article 21(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Point (e) of Article 21(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 requires the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to submit by 2 January 2012 draft regulatory technical standards to be endorsed by the Commission concerning the content and format of the ratings data that credit ratings agencies should periodically report to ESMA. The purpose of this periodic reporting is to allow ESMA to discharge its responsibility with regard to the ongoing supervision of credit rating agencies, as established by Article 21(1) of that Regulation.

(2) Ratings data should allow ESMA to supervise closely the conduct and activities of credit rating agencies, so as to be able to react promptly in case of actual or potential breaches of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009. For this reason, ratings data should normally be reported to ESMA on a monthly basis. However, in order to ensure proportionality, credit rating agencies that have fewer than 50 employees and that are not part of a group should be able to submit ratings data every two months, instead of every month. ESMA should still be able to require those credit ratings agencies to carry out monthly reporting, in light of the number and type of their ratings, including the complexity of the credit analysis, the relevance of the rated instruments or issuers and the eligibility of the ratings to be used for purposes such as those of Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2).

(3) The data to be reported should be compiled in a standard format to allow ESMA to receive and process the records automatically in its internal systems. Due to technical progress over time, a number of technical reporting instructions concerning the transmission or the format of the files to be submitted by credit rating agencies may have to be updated and communicated by ESMA through specific communications or guidelines.

(4) With a view to ensuring complete and correct reporting of ratings data, and to taking into account further developments in the financial markets, it is important to enable credit rating agencies to develop adequate systems and procedures following the technical specifications provided by ESMA. For this purpose, the Regulation shall only enter into force six months after its publication. Meanwhile, credit rating agencies should submit periodic ratings data in accordance with the existing guidelines issued by the Committee of European Securities Regulators.

(5) Credit rating agencies that are part of a group should be able to either report their ratings data separately to ESMA, or mandate one of the other agencies within the group to submit the data on behalf of all group members that are subject to the reporting requirements.

(6) This Regulation is based on the draft regulatory technical standards submitted by ESMA to the Commission, in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

(7) ESMA has conducted open public consultations on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the opinion of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group established in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation sets out the content and format of ratings data periodic reporting to be requested from credit rating agencies for the purpose of ongoing supervision by the European Securities and Markets Authority (‘ESMA’), in accordance with point (e) of Article 21(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009.

Article 2

Reporting principles

1. Credit rating agencies shall comply with the requirements established by this Regulation and shall be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data reported to ESMA.

2. In the case of a group of credit rating agencies, the members of the group may mandate one member to submit reports required under this Regulation on its behalf and on behalf of the other members of the group. Each credit rating agency on whose behalf a report is submitted shall be identified in the data submitted to ESMA.

3. Reports submitted in accordance with this Regulation shall be submitted on a monthly basis and shall provide rating data relating to the preceding calendar month.

4. Credit rating agencies that have fewer than 50 employees and that are not part of a group of credit rating agencies may submit, every two months, reports that provide rating data relating to the preceding two calendar months, unless ESMA informs the credit rating agency that it requires monthly reporting in view of the nature, complexity and range of issue of its credit ratings.

5. Reports shall be submitted to ESMA within 15 days of the end of the period which is the subject of the report.

6. Credit rating agencies shall notify ESMA immediately of any exceptional circumstances that may temporarily prevent or delay their ability to report in accordance with this Regulation.

Article 3

Data to be reported

1. At the end of the first reporting period, a credit rating agency shall include in its reporting to ESMA the qualitative data specified in Table 1 of the Annex. Where those data change during a subsequent reporting period, the new data shall be submitted to ESMA.

2. Credit rating agencies shall provide the data set out in Table 2 of the Annex for each action carried out by a credit rating agency as specified in that Table and for each credit rating concerned by that action. The actions to be reported shall refer to credit ratings issued or endorsed by the credit rating agency.

3. Where no action as specified in Table 2 has occurred during a reporting period, the credit rating agency shall not be obliged to submit notification in this respect.

4. The data specified in Table 1 and Table 2 of the Annex shall be submitted to ESMA in separate files. The qualitative data set out in Table 1 shall be submitted prior to the submission of the data set out in Table 2.

Article 4

Rating types

1. A credit rating agency shall classify the ratings to be reported in accordance with the following types:

(a) corporate ratings;

(b) structured finance ratings;

(c) sovereign and public finance ratings;

(d) covered bond ratings.

2. For the purpose of paragraph 1, structured finance ratings shall relate to a financial instrument or other assets resulting from a securitisation transaction or scheme referred to in Article 4(36) of Directive 2006/48/EC.

When reporting structured finance ratings, a credit rating agency shall classify the rating within one of the following asset classes:

(a) Asset-backed securities. This asset class includes auto/boat/airplane loans, student loans, consumer loans, health care loans, manufactured housing loans, film loans, utility loans, equipment leases, credit card receivables, tax liens, non-performing loans, credit-linked notes, recreational vehicle loans, and trade receivables.

(b) Residential mortgage-backed securities. This asset class includes prime and non-prime residential mortgage-backed securities and home equity loans.

(c) Commercial mortgage-backed securities. This asset class includes retail or office property loans, hospital loans, care residences, storage facilities, hotel loans, nursing facilities, industrial loans, and multifamily properties.

(d) Collateralised debt obligations. This asset class includes collateralised loan obligations, collateralised bond obligations, collateralised synthetic obligations, single-tranche collateralised debt obligations, collateralised fund obligations, collateralised debt obligations of asset-backed securities, and collateralised debt obligations of collateralised debt obligations.

(e) Asset-backed commercial papers.

(f) Other structured finance instruments that are not included in the preceding asset classes, including structured covered bonds, structured investment vehicles, insurance-linked securities and derivative product companies.

3. Covered bond ratings shall relate to covered bonds which are not included in the list of asset classes regarding structured finance ratings set out in paragraph 2.

Article 5

Reporting procedures

1. Credit rating agencies shall submit data files in accordance with the XML schemes provided by ESMA and using the reporting system established by ESMA. They shall name the files according to the naming convention indicated by ESMA.

2. Credit rating agencies shall store the files sent to and received by ESMA in electronic form for at least five years. These files shall be made available to ESMA on request.

3. Where a credit rating agency identifies factual errors in data that has been reported, it shall cancel and replace the relevant data.

4. To cancel data a credit rating agency shall send to ESMA a file including the fields specified in Table 3 of the Annex. Once the original records have been cancelled, the credit rating agency shall send the new version of the records by using a file that includes the fields specified in Table 1 or Table 2, as appropriate.

Article 6

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force six months following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 21 March 2012. For the Commission The President José Manuel BARROSO

(1) OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 177, 30.6.2006, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 84.