Credit Rating Agency Registration
ICAP CRIF RATINGS SINGLE MEMBER S.A. is the only Greek company that is a registered Credit Rating Agency by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and is recognized by the Bank of Greece as an External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI).
ICAP CRIF RATINGS’s registration as a Credit Rating Agency held on 7 July 2011 and the Credit Ratings that assigns since then are in accordance with the requirements of the Regulation (EC) 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on Credit Rating Agencies, as amended and in force. In compliance with this Regulation ICAP CRIF RATINGS:
- Applies strictly prescribed methodologies, procedures and policies,
- Has sound internal control mechanisms,
- Implements and maintains decision-making procedures and organisational structures which clearly and in a documented manner specify reporting lines and allocate functions and responsibilities,
ensuring its compliance with the regulatory framework and the assignment of credit ratings governed by the principles of integrity, reliability, transparency, and independence.
Corporate Credit Ratings issued by ICAP CRIF RATINGS, both on Issuer and Issue level, may be used to meet regulatory capital and solvency requirements by Credit Institutions, Investment Firms, Insurance and Reinsurance Companies.
The latest mapping between ICAP CRIF RATINGS’s Corporate Credit Ratings and Credit Quality Steps defined:
- In Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms; and
- In Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of insurance and reinsurance (Solvency II),
are respectively referred to in the Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2024/1872 and (EU) 2024/1820 of 1 July 2024. The new mapping henceforth includes Credit Quality Step 1, substantially upgrading the value of ICAP CRIF RATINGS’s credit ratings for capital adequacy purposes to credit institutions. The Regulations are based on the draft implementing technical standards submitted to the Commission by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), jointly (the European Supervisory Authorities-ESAs).
At the same time, the Structured Finance Credit Ratings assigned by ICAP CRIF RATINGS can be used to meet prudential requirements by Credit institutions in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The latest mapping of ICAP CRIF RATINGS’s Structured Finance Credit Ratings to Credit Quality Steps, which it should be pointed that it starts from Credit Quality Step 1, is referred to in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2365 of 2 December 2022, which was based on the draft implementing technical standards submitted to the Commission by the European Banking Authority (EBA).
