Item 6 - Annual Review of Credit Ratings **New**

45. Under the 2015 Periodic Guidelines there is no requirement for CRAs to report whether they have conducted a review of all their credit ratings, and as such, no dedicated means for ESMA to receive this information other than bilateral requests for information.

46. However, Article 8(5) of the CRA Regulation requires CRAs to review their credit ratings on an ongoing basis and at least annually. These reviews are an important part of ensuring high quality of ratings. As a result it is important for ESMA to understand whether or not these reviews have been carried out, and when they have not, the reasons for this.

47. To address this issue, under the proposed Guidelines ESMA is introducing specific instructions for CRAs to provide information on this annual review. This information should be provided by means of a dedicated Template, ensuring the information received is consistent across all CRAs. Where a CRA has conducted an annual review for all its credit ratings this confirmation can be provided. In addition, where a CRA has not conducted an annual review of certain credit ratings this information can also be provided, alongside a rationale for the lack of a review.