Brussels, 28/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 28 April, the European Commission adopted five decisions to enable small credit rating agencies (CRAs) in Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Mexico and Singapore to request a certificate of equivalence in the EU, which would enable their credit ratings to be used by EU financial institutions for regulatory purposes. The Commission says that the legal and supervisory frameworks for the five credit rating agencies are equivalent to the requirements of Regulation (EC) 1060/2009. In the decisions taken on Monday, the European Commission lays down three criteria that must be met in order for equivalence to be granted: “According to the first condition, CRAs in third countries must be subject to authorisation or registration and to effective supervision and enforcement on an on-going basis. According to the second condition, CRAs in the third country must be subject to legally binding rules which are equivalent to those set out in the Regulation. According to the third condition, the regulatory regime in the third country must prevent interference by the supervisory authorities and other public authorities of that third country with the content of credit rating and methodologies”. (EL)