EU to Strip Five Countries of Some Market Access Rights, FT Says

(Bloomberg) -- The European Commission will deem that Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Argentina and Australia don’t regulate credit ratings agencies with the same rigor as the EU, the Financial Times reports citing a document. The decision would withdraw some market access rights of the country, removing a status that makes it possible for European banks to rely on the ratings.

• This will be the first time that the access rights have been withdrawn, though temporary permissions for Switzerland were allowed to lapse earlier
• Credit ratings agencies can also a different pathway, endorsement, to allow individual agencies to get access by setting up units in the EU that vouch for ratings produced elsewhere
• Head of European compliance at DBRS told the FT that the EC decision to repeal equivalence for Canada will have no impact on the agency’s business
• NOTE: July 19, There’s No Such Thing as Free Access, EU to Warn U.K. on Banks
  • July 4, Swiss Standoff with EU Belies Deep Economic Dependence

To contact the reporter on this story: Polina Noskova in New York at pnoskova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah Kopit at skopit@bloomberg.net

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