Ante la entrada en
vigor de la nueva regulación, la Comisión Europea ha publicado un comunicado
y un memorando
destinados a exponer los antecedentes de la nueva normativa y los objetivos
perseguidos. La nueva regulación está constituida por el Reglamento
462/2013 y por la Directiva
2013/14/CE, ambos de fecha 21 de mayo y su entrada en vigor tendrá efectos
a partir del día 20 de junio.
Tomo de la nota de
prensa la explicación de los propósitos de esta nueva normativa:
“1.
Reduced overreliance on credit ratings
In line
with our G20 commitments, the new rules will reduce reliance on external
ratings, requiring financial institutions to strengthen their own credit risk
assessment and not to rely solely and mechanistically on external credit
ratings. European Supervisory Authorities should also avoid references to
external credit ratings and will be required to review their rules and
guidelines and where appropriate, remove credit ratings where they have the
potential to create mechanistic effects. The regulatory package also contains a
Directive introducing the principle to reduce reliance on external ratings
in sectoral legislation for collective investment funds (UCITS), alternative
investment fund managers (AIFMD) and institutions for retirement
provision (IORPD).
2.
Improved quality of ratings of sovereign debt of EU Member States
To
avoid market disruption, rating agencies will set up a calendar indicating when
they will rate Member States. Such ratings will be limited to three per year for unsolicited
sovereign ratings. Derogations remain possible in exceptional circumstances and
subject to appropriate explanations. The ratings will only be published on
Fridays after close of business and at least one hour before the opening of
trading venues in the EU. Furthermore, investors and Member States will be
informed of the underlying facts and assumptions on each rating which will
facilitate a better understanding of credit ratings of Member States.
3.
Credit rating agencies will be more accountable for their actions
The new
rules will make rating agencies more accountable for their actions as
ratings are not just simple opinions. Therefore, the new rules ensure that
a rating agency can be held liable in case it infringes intentionally or with
gross negligence the CRA Regulation, thereby causing damage to an investor or
an issuer.
4.
Reduced conflicts of interests due to the issuer pays remuneration model
The
Regulation will improve the independence of credit rating agencies and help
eliminate conflicts of interest by introducing mandatory rotation for certain
complex structured financial instruments (re-securitisations). There are
also limitations as regards the shareholding of rating agencies. To mitigate
the risk of conflicts of interest, the new rules will require CRAs to disclose
publicly if a shareholder with 5% or more of the capital or voting rights of
the concerned CRA holds 5% or more of a rated entity, and would prohibit a CRA
from rating when a shareholder of a CRA with 10% or more of the capital or
voting rights also holds 10% or more of a rated entity.
To
ensure the diversity and independence of credit ratings, the Regulation
prohibits ownership of 5% or more of the capital or the voting rights in more
than one CRA, unless the agencies concerned belong to the same group
(cross-shareholding).
5.
Publication of ratings on a European Rating Platform
All
available ratings will be published on a European Rating Platform, available as from June 2015. This will improve the
comparability and visibility of ratings of financial instruments rated by
rating agencies registered and authorised in the EU. This should also help investors
to make their own credit risk assessment and contribute to more diversity in
the rating industry.
As part
of the package, the Commission will also review the situation in the rating
market and report to the European Parliament and the Council on the
appropriateness of the development of a special European system for
creditworthiness assessments of sovereign debt. By 31 December 2016, the
Commission should submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council
on the appropriateness and feasibility of supporting a European credit rating
agency dedicated to assessing the creditworthiness of Member States’ sovereign
debt and/or a European credit rating foundation for all other credit ratings”.
El tiempo
dirá si los abundantes problemas que han acompañado la actividad de las
agencias de calificación se corrigen al amparo de esta nueva normativa que,
como se indica repetidamente, busca establecer en la Unión Europea un marco
similar al que se ha introducido en otros mercados relevantes.
Madrid, 19
de junio de 2013
