The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has formally approved the registration of modeFinance S.r.l., based in Trieste, Italy, as a credit rating agency (CRA) under Article 16 of the CRA Regulation. The registration takes effect from 10 July 2015.
modeFinance’s registration as a CRA means that its credit ratings can be used for regulatory purposes within the European Union.
A registered CRA must continue to comply, on an ongoing basis, with the regulatory requirements set out under the CRA Regulation.
There are currently 24 registered and four certified CRAs in the EU. Amongst the 24 registered CRAs, three operate under a group structure, totalling 17 legal entities in the EU, which means that the total number of CRA entities registered in the EU is now 38.
ESMA’s supervisory mandate applies to all credit rating agencies established or used for regulatory purposes in the EU which issue credit ratings disclosed publicly or distributed by subscription. The exercise of that supervision includes the possibility to impose sanctions and other forms of penalties in case of breaches of the requirements established by Regulation. Those requirements include the obligation to be registered by ESMA before engaging in rating activities
