On 21 June 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a final report providing technical advice to the European Commission on the supervisory fees charged to credit rating agencies (CRAs).

ESMA proposes to charge:

• A fixed registration fee of €40,000.
• An annual supervisory fee of 0.5% of turnover to CRAs with annual revenues of between €4 million to 15 million.

ESMA has not recommended changes to the calculation of annual supervisory fees paid by CRAs with annual revenues of over €15 million.

ESMA also recommends a number of changes to streamline the fee collection process and to align ESMA’s approach across its supervisory mandates. These include the requirement for supervisory fees to be paid in a single instalment in the first quarter of the financial year to ensure that ESMA has funds available for its ongoing supervision.

The final report has been submitted to the Commission for consideration.