Find out how UK-based and third-country credit rating agencies (CRAs) can apply for registration or certification to provide rating services in the UK.
CRAs operating in the UK, must comply with Article (4)(1) of the UK Credit Rating Agency Regulations (UK CRAR) and be FCA-registered. Third country CRAs can apply to us to be a certified CRA.
Firms must also be able to connect to the FCA ratings database and provide ratings data to the FCA.
You must request a meeting through our pre-application support service (PASS) if you're intending to apply to operate as a CRA.
PASS is a free service for firms to discuss their plans with us while we can set out our expectations. In our experience, PASS improves the quality of applications and reduces assessment time.
Applying for FCA registration
UK CRAs need to provide all the information in Annex II of the UK CRAR and information in Binding Technical Standard Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 449/2012.
UK CRAs will also be expected to comply with the requirements set out in the Binding Technical Standard Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 449/2012 when applying for registration, in particular chapter 2.
If you're a new UK-based CRA wishing to apply for registration in the UK, you must:
- Request a pre-application meeting through the PASS.
- Submit a completed registration form with supporting documentation. Read our supporting registration notes for help.
- Pay a fee (your fee falls into pricing category 5).
Applying for FCA certification
Third country CRAs applying for FCA certification must provide the information below from Annex II of the UK CRAR and Binding Technical Standard No 449/2012 as part of their application.
Certification can only be used for credit ratings of entities established, or financial instruments issued, in third countries. Credit ratings of UK entities or of financial instruments issued in the UK cannot benefit from the certification regime.
Ensure your firm has reviewed the certification and equivalence section below to ensure that you qualify to operate as a certified CRA.
Non UK-based CRAs wishing to apply for certification in the UK must:
- Request a pre application meeting through the PASS.
- Submit a completed certification form with supporting documentation. Read our supporting certification notes for help.
- Pay a fee (your fee falls into pricing category 4).
Exemptions
The UK CRAR allows for exemptions from certain rules if the CRA has less than 50 employees and can demonstrate that the requirements are not proportionate as set out in Article 6 of the UK CRAR.
Before applying for exemptions, the CRA should review Articles 6 and 7 of the UK CRAR and the Binding Technical Standard Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 449/2012.
Should the CRA be able to demonstrate that it complies with the requirements above it can apply to be exempt from:
- Article 7(4) – rotation of analysts.
- Annex I, Part A, point 2 – appointment of independent non-executive directors.
- Annex I, Part A, point 5 – permanence and effectiveness of the compliance function.
- Annex I, Part A, point 6 – compliance function to discharge responsibilities.
- Annex I, Part A, point 9 – establishment of review function responsible for periodically reviewing methodologies, models and key rating assumptions.
Application timeframe
Applications will be reviewed within 20 working days of submission.
We will either confirm your application is complete or contact you with a deadline to provide further information. As with all applications to the FCA, the information will be reviewed in a qualitative and quantitative manner.
Once you have provided all information required, we’ll confirm your application is complete. We then have 45 working days (or 60 working days subject to certain conditions) to provide you with a decision on your application.
You will also need to connect to our rating database, to be able to submit ratings data to the FCA, before your application is determined. Once you have submitted an application you will be provided details of how to connect to the database.
Determining your application
There are 2 possible outcomes on your application:
- Your application is approved, and you are registered as a UK CRA or certified as a certified CRA. Your details will appear on the Financial Services Register.
- We have concerns whether your firm meets the conditions for registration or certification and will recommend your application is refused by the Executive Decision Maker (EDM). If the EDM agrees with the recommendation to refuse your application, we will provide details of the concerns through a Warning Notice. Read more on our statutory notice procedure.
Endorsement
Endorsement is available to third-country CRA groups that have a legal presence in the UK. It allows UK-registered CRAs to endorse credit ratings into the UK from specific third country jurisdictions for regulatory purposes.
When a UK CRA endorses credit ratings from a third country affiliate, those ratings can be used in the UK for regulatory purposes.
See our list of third-country jurisdictions where the legal and supervisory framework meet the conditions for endorsement to take place.
This list is updated as necessary:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- The European Union
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- Mexico
- Singapore
- South Africa
- United States of America
It’s for UK CRAs to decide to endorse some or all the credit ratings. CRAs must ensure they comply with all the requirements in Article 4(3) of CRAR, as amended by the CRAR Statutory Instrument (SI).
Changing firm details or registration data
Once registered or certified, firms must ensure the data we hold about them is current and correct.
If your firm is a CRA, you may wish to:
- Apply for new exemption under Article 6(3) of the UK CRAR.
- Apply to remove an exemption granted by us under Article 6(3) of the UK CRAR.
- Notify us of your request to rate additional asset classes.
- Change your firm's details.
- Change your firm's members of senior management.
To make any of these changes, complete a notification form and email it to [email protected].
Cancelling your registration or certification
Before applying to cancel your firm’s registration or certification, you must inform our CRA Supervision team.
Do this by completing and emailing the notification form to [email protected]. You should tell us:
- How many outstanding ratings you will have on the date of cancellation.
- The effect on users of your ratings.
- Whether you’re proposing a timeframe for users of your ratings to find alternative arrangements.
It is essential that you meet these conditions – otherwise we may not grant your application to cancel.
