(29) For prudential reasons and in order to avoid the exercise of significant influence over the management of an
issuing body by an MMF, excessive concentration by an MMF in investments issued by the same issuing body
should be avoided.
(30) MMFs operating solely as employee savings schemes should be able to diverge from certain requirements
applicable to investments in other MMFs insofar as the participants in such schemes, who are natural persons, are
subject to restrictive redemption conditions that are not linked to market developments but instead related to
particular and predefined life events, such as retirement, and other special circumstances, including but not
limited to the acquisition of a main residence, divorce, sickness or unemployment. It is important for employees
to be allowed to invest in MMFs, which are considered to be one of the safest short-term investments. Such
derogation does not endanger the objective of this Regulation to ensure financial stability, as employees investing
in MMFs via their employee savings schemes cannot redeem their investment on demand. Redemptions are only
able to occur in the case of certain predefined life events. Therefore, even in stressed market situations, employees
will not be able to redeem their investment in MMFs.
(31) MMFs should have a responsibility to invest in high-quality eligible assets. Therefore, an MMF should have
a prudent internal credit quality assessment procedure for determining the credit quality of the money market
instruments, securitisations and ABCPs in which it intends to invest. In accordance with Union law limiting over-
reliance on credit ratings, it is important that MMFs avoid mechanistic reliance and over-reliance on ratings issued
by rating agencies. MMFs should be able to use ratings as a complement to their own assessment of the quality of
eligible assets. Managers of MMFs should undertake a new assessment of money market instruments, securiti
sations and ABCPs whenever there is a material change, in particular when it comes to the attention of the
manager of an MMF that a money market instrument, securitisation or ABCP is downgraded below the two
highest short-term credit ratings provided by any credit rating agency regulated and certified in accordance with
Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (
1
). To that end, the manager of
an MMF should be able to establish an internal procedure for the selection of credit rating agencies suited to the
specific investment portfolio of the MMF and for determining the frequency at which the MMF should monitor
the ratings of those agencies. The selection of credit rating agencies should remain consistent over time.
(32) Taking note of the work done on reducing investor over-reliance on credit ratings by international bodies, such as
IOSCO and the FSB, as well as in Union law, including in Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 and Directive
2013/14/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (
2
), it is not appropriate to prohibit any product,
including MMFs, from soliciting or financing an external credit rating.
(33) In order to ensure that managers of MMFs do not use different assessment criteria for evaluating the credit
quality of a money market instrument, securitisation or ABCP and thus attribute different risk characteristics to
the same instrument, it is essential that managers of MMFs rely on the same criteria. To that end, the minimum
criteria for the assessment of a money market instrument, securitisation and ABCP should be harmonised.
Examples of internal credit quality assessment criteria are quantitative measures on the issuer of the instrument,
such as financial ratios, balance sheet dynamics and profitability guidelines, each of which is evaluated and
compared to those of industry peers and groups, and qualitative measures on the issuer of the instrument, such
as management effectiveness and corporate strategy, each of which is analysed with a view to determining that
the issuer's overall strategy does not impede on its future credit quality. A favourable outcome of the internal
credit quality assessment should reflect sufficient creditworthiness of the issuer of the instruments and sufficient
credit quality of the instruments.
(34) In order to develop a transparent and coherent internal credit quality assessment procedure, the manager of an
MMF should document the procedure and the credit quality assessments. That requirement should ensure that the
procedure follows a clear set of rules that can be monitored and that the methodologies employed are
communicated, upon request, to the investors and competent authorities in accordance with this Regulation.
30.6.2017 L 169/12 Official Journal of the European Union
EN
1
) Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on credit rating agencies
(OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 1).
(
2
) Directive 2013/14/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 amending Directive 2003/41/EC on the activities
and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision, Directive 2009/65/EC on the coordination of laws, regulations
and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) and Directive
2011/61/EU on Alternative Investment Funds Managers in respect of over-reliance on credit ratings (OJ L 145, 31.5.2013, p. 1).