Item 21 - Staff Numbers and Other Indicators **New**

83. Under the 2015 Guidelines, ESMA receives information on the number and allocation of CRAs Full Time Employees (FTEs) on a quarterly basis. This information is important to help ESMA understand the sufficiency of a CRAs internal staffing resources and staff turnover, factors which contribute to ESMA’s risk assessment of a CRA.

84. However, differences in reporting styles between CRAs means the comparability of this information for ESMA is low. In addition, the format in which this information is currently reported does not enable ESMA to automate any supervisory tools for analysing the information submitted. As a result, the current usability of this information is low without the significant dedication of supervisory resources.

85. To address these issues, under the proposed Guidelines ESMA is requiring CRAs to submit information on FTE allocation by way of a standardised template. In addition, the proposed Guidelines will also require CRAs to provide information on the number of rating related IT applications currently used within the CRA and the number of ongoing IT projects and programmes within a CRA. This information is requested as part of the same template as the number of personnel and the number of IT applications are both correlated inputs to an entities systemic risk indicator for the purposes of ESMA’s internal risk assessment. As a result, it makes sense to request this information together within the same Template.

With a view to easing the reporting burden it is proposed that the frequency of reporting be on an annual basis for both categories of CRA.