Scope Ratings has been accepted as an external credit assessment institution (ECAI) for the purposes of the Eurosystem Credit Assessment Framework (ECAF) by the governing council of the European Central Bank.

The ECB announced the news on Friday, after the decision was taken by its governing council on 2 November following a thorough Eurosystem assessment of Scope’s application, according to the central bank.

“In its assessment the Eurosystem considered all the acceptance criteria for ECAIs, which encompass quantitative and qualitative criteria, as well as any relevant supervisory feedback from the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA),” it said.

Scope has been targeting ECB acceptance for many years. Market participants had noted that the lack of ECAI status made it more challenging for the rating agency to secure business, which in turn make it difficult for Scope to build the track record necessary to gain ECB acceptance.

“We thank the ECB for their trust and confidence in accepting Scope as the first European rating agency in the Eurosystem Credit Assessment Framework,” said Florian Schoeller, CEO of Scope Group. “With the ECAF status comes great responsibility.

“I am convinced that Europe needs strong domestic capital market infrastructure to support its independence and sovereignty. Scope Ratings’ recognition by the ECB can play a major role to support the European Capital Markets Union.”

As of June, Scope rates 41 covered bond programmes in 11 countries across Europe, encompassing 1,145 issues totalling €659bn – all triple-A.

“We will be able to compete on an equal footing with the other eligible CRAs and will make sure that in particular for covered bonds the European voice is heard for this truly European product,” said Karlo Fuchs, head of covered bonds at Scope (pictured).

The ECB said it is starting work immediately on integrating Scope’s ratings into Eurosystem IT infrastructure, a process it expects to take several months, after which it will pre-announce the go-live date of their usability for monetary policy purposes.