Question ID: 2288
Regulation Reference: (EU) No 2009/138 - Solvency II Directive (Insurance and Reinsurance)
Topic: Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR)
Article: N/A
Status: Final
Date of submission: 10 May 2021
Question
A question regarding the SCR ratio for quasi-government bond investments (or SSA/supra sovereign agency bonds) which don't have a public rating from one of the large rating agencies - does EIOPA consider 'private' ratings (which are prepared on demand, and are only visible for a specific investor on a confidential basis, such as for example the PCA (Private Credit Analysis) from S&P, or the PRI (Private Rating for Investors) from Moody's services), as equivalent to a 'regular' public rating from one of these agencies, when used for the purposes of calculating the SCR ratio? In other words, from an investor's standpoint, is it the same from a regulatory perspective to buy a bond that has a private rating as a public rating? Please keep in mind that for the rating agencies offering these services to investors, a private rating is exactly the same as a public rating (the only difference being that the private rating is prepared for a specific investor on a confidential basis, and is therefore only visible to them).
EIOPA answer
Private credit ratings as referred to in Article 2(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 cannot be used for the calculation of the Solvency Capital Requirement in accordance with the standard formula.