ESMA Publishes Annual Report for 2017 and Work Program for 2018

Supervisory priorities for 2018. ESMA will prioritize supervision on the quality of the credit rating process, including validation practices of CRAs and the quality of data reported by trade repositories. ESMA will continue to focus on information technology and internal control, in addition to governance structures and management quality. Common themes in the supervision of both trade repositories and CRAs on which ESMA will perform further work include Brexit, fees charged by CRAs and trade repositories, cloud computing, and preparation of guidelines for periodic information. The work on Brexit will be a key focus for ESMA in 2018. By the end of the year, all supervised entities should be ready if the UK leaves EU under a cliff-edge scenario. The priority areas for the supervision of third-country CCPs include the assessment of 15 pending applications for recognition as third-country CCPs and monitoring of the potential risks third-country CCPs might import into EU. ESMA will also monitor the impact of Brexit on the third-country CCP regime. 

Supervisory activities and achievements during 2017. ESMA delivered a number of concrete results in 2017. ESMA launched investigations into the system development lifecycle of a trade repository and access to trade repository data by the national competent authorities. Further investigations were also conducted on changes of analytical approach, rigorousness of CRA methodologies, interactions between CRAs and issuers, and the issuance process of structured finance ratings. The number of ESMA-supervised entities grew in 2017 while the number of ESMA-supervised CRAs remained unchanged, following the registration pf one new CRA and the withdrawal of another. Other important achievements included:

• Work on fees charged by CRAs and trade repositories, which resulted in the publication of a thematic report at the beginning of January 2018
• Thematic review following the publication of the guidelines on validation
• Publication of the endorsement guidelines for CRAs
• Guidelines on portability for trade repositories
• Q&As on CRAs and trade repositories
• Improvements in the quality of data reported by trade repositories as a result of the Data Quality Action Plan of ESMA

Related Links

• Press Release
• Annual Report and Work Program (PDF)

Keywords: Europe, EU, Securities, Work Program 2018, Annual Report, CRA, Third-Country CCPs, Trade Repositories, ESMA