16 March 2012… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the supervision of credit rating agencies (CRAs). (http://www.esma.europa.eu/node/57482 ). 

2   CRAs play an important role in the global financial markets and their rating activities have a significant impact on the operations of the markets and on investor confidence.  The MOU provides a formal basis for supervisory cooperation between MAS and ESMA.  It paves the way for the enhanced sharing of supervisory information between the two authorities for more effective supervision of cross-border CRAs operating in Singapore and within the European Union (EU).

3   In addition to the signing of the MOU, ESMA has also announced that it considers Singapore’s regulatory framework for CRAs to be in line with EU’s CRA regulations, thereby facilitating EU registered CRAs to endorse  credit ratings issued in Singapore. 
(MAS introduces regulatory framework for CRA).