On 3 December 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its annual market share calculation for EU registered credit rating agencies (CRAs).

The purpose of the report is to provide guidance on Article 8d of the Regulation on CRAs which provides that issuers or related third parties are required to consider appointing a CRA with no more than 10% total market share whenever they intend to appoint one or more CRAs to rate an issuance or entity.

The report provides background and guidance as to how the market share calculation is performed and should be used. It:

• allows the user to identify CRAs with no more than 10% total market share;
• allows the user to identify the types of credit ratings offered by these CRAs;
• allows the user to assess the market presence of CRAs in different asset classes; and
• provides a link to a standard form and supervisory briefing the user can use for documenting the non-appointment of a CRA with no more than 10% total market share.