An ECAI credit assessment may be used to determine the risk weight of a securitisation position in accordance with Article 96 only if the ECAI has been recognised as eligible by the competent authorities for this purpose (hereinafter ‘an eligible ECAI’).

The competent authorities shall recognise an ECAI as eligible for the purposes of paragraph 1 only if they are satisfied as to its compliance with the requirements laid down in Article 81, taking into account the technical criteria in Annex VI, Part 2, and that it has a demonstrated ability in the area of securitisation, which may be evidenced by a strong market acceptance.

If an ECAI has been recognised as eligible by the competent authorities of a Member State for the purposes of paragraph 1, the competent authorities of other Member States may recognise that ECAI as eligible for those purposes without carrying out their own evaluation process.

The competent authorities shall make publicly available an explanation of the recognition process and a list of eligible ECAIs.

To be used for the purposes of paragraph 1, a credit assessment of an eligible ECAI shall comply with the principles of credibility and transparency as elaborated in Annex IX, Part 3.