Under Article 8b of the Regulation on credit rating agencies (CRA), ESMA is responsible for establishing a website where information on structured finance instruments (SFIs) should be published.

A Delegated Regulation supplementing the Regulation on CRAs provides that in order to implement Article 8b, “The reporting entities shall submit data files in accordance with the reporting system of the SFIs website and the technical instructions to be provided by ESMA on its website”. ESMA is obliged to issue the technical instructions by 1 July 2016, as the reporting obligations apply from 1 January 2017.

However, ESMA has issued a press release stating that it has encountered a number of problems including the absence of a legal basis for the funding of the website. In light of this ESMA states that it does not expect to be able to receive information related to SFIs from reporting entities from 1 January 2017.  ESMA expects that new securitisation legislation, which is currently in the legislative process, will provide clarity on the future obligation regarding reporting on SFIs.

View ESMA update on reporting structured finance instruments information under the CRA Regulation, 27 April 2016