CHAPTER 23 / 55 · Paid
FS-2.8 Credit Rating Agencies / Rating Agencies.
Rating is not investment advice and not a reporting-issuer registration.
Approx. 12 min with exercisesLaw cut-off: 20 September 2026Our approach
By the end of this chapter
- Describe the shop in one paragraph from the first file on the desk.
- Decide the promoter’s next asks: which stay on this letter, which need another paper.
- Keep neighbouring permissions off this desk.
- Cite the enabling section and treat the licence letter as the book.
FSC · FS-2.8 · Licence
1. OceanRatings Ltd’s shop
OceanRatings Ltd is the desk this chapter is for. Operate as a credit rating agency / rating agency.
The first file on the desk is this. OceanRatings Ltd will issue public credit ratings on rupee bonds of listed issuers. FS-2.8.
Three facts have to stay true of that book. First, the letter is the activity specified. This is a licence under Financial Services Act 2007, Section 14. A company name is not a permission.
Second, neighbouring papers stay off this desk. Not an investment adviser, not a reporting issuer, and not “other financial business activity”.
Third, the assumptions stay in the file. Fictional agency. Issuers remain reporting issuers if the Securities Act applies. Cut-off 20 September 2026.
Financial Services Act 2007, Section 14. See the register note · Open the published text ↗.
2. A week with Rating Mauritian corporate bonds
Monday. The promoter walks in with “Rating Mauritian corporate bonds.” Write the facts before anyone names a code: OceanRatings Ltd will issue public credit ratings on rupee bonds of listed issuers.
Tuesday. The team writes the activity in the words of the licence letter, not the brass plate. Operate as a credit rating agency / rating agency.
Wednesday. They record what this permission is used for. FS-2.8.
Thursday. They write what the letter does not cover. Rating is not SEC-2.4 advice and not SEC-4.4 registration of the issuer.
Friday. They lock the assumptions. Fictional agency. Issuers remain reporting issuers if the Securities Act applies. Cut-off 20 September 2026. The file is ready for the application, not for a slogan on a slide.
The other files on this desk should look like that first one: a named person, a specified activity, and a letter that matches the work. That is what FS-2.8 is used for. The Act matters when OceanRatings Ltd applies, when the Commission writes conditions onto the letter, and when the same promoter telephones with a different idea.
3. What the same promoter asks next
The facts are fictional. The method is the course: keep the shop you have just watched, and ask which desk is now doing the work.
This licence
Rating Mauritian corporate bonds
OceanRatings Ltd will issue public credit ratings on rupee bonds of listed issuers.
Why it fits. FS-2.8.
Different paper
The same promoter asks for an investment adviser
The slide says the FS-2.8 letter already covers it because the same company, the same officers or the same client are on the file.
Why it does not. Keep the neighbouring paper off this desk. Rating is not SEC-2.4 advice and not SEC-4.4 registration of the issuer.
Different paper
The same promoter asks for reporting issuer
The slide says the FS-2.8 letter already covers it because the same company, the same officers or the same client are on the file.
Why it does not. Keep the neighbouring paper off this desk. Rating is not SEC-2.4 advice and not SEC-4.4 registration of the issuer.
| The promoter asks OceanRatings Ltd to… | This licence? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rating Mauritian corporate bonds | Yes | FS-2.8. |
| The same promoter asks for an investment adviser | No | Keep the neighbouring paper off this desk. Rating is not SEC-2.4 advice and not SEC-4.4 registration of the issuer. |
| The same promoter asks for reporting issuer | No | Keep the neighbouring paper off this desk. Rating is not SEC-2.4 advice and not SEC-4.4 registration of the issuer. |
4. Papers that sit beside this one
Not an investment adviser, not a reporting issuer, and not “other financial business activity”. Name the other desk when the work changes: an investment adviser; a reporting issuer; “other financial business activity”.
- an investment adviser
- a reporting issuer
- “other financial business activity”
Neighbouring codes have their own chapters. Do not import their books into this letter.
5. The letter and the file
A section 14 applicant with independence, methodology and analyst-competence evidence. Published licensing criteria on the FSC codified list (consolidation as at 1 July 2026) are guidance. Fees as at 1 July 2026: Processing fee Rs 50,000 (USD 2,000). Status at cut-off: Published specialised-financial-services category as at 1 July 2026.
Who may hold it. A section 14 applicant with independence, methodology and analyst-competence evidence.
Published criteria. Published licensing criteria on the FSC codified list (consolidation as at 1 July 2026) are guidance. They neither derogate from nor restrict the Commission’s statutory powers, and they must be read with the relevant Act, rules, codes and circulars. The 1 July 2026 directory says the application form and licensing criteria are the same as FS-2.11. That is a filing convenience. The code and the activity remain this row, not “other financial business activity”.
Rules, codes and circulars. CL20260107 for fees. IOSCO-style codes, if applied by FSC rules, sit beside this licence; they are not a second directory code.
6. How to cite FS-2.8
| Coordinate | As at 20 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Directory code | FS-2.8 Credit Rating Agencies/Rating Agencies |
| Legal nature | Licence |
| Enabling law | Financial Services Act 2007 · Section 14 |
| Fees as at 1 July 2026 | Processing fee Rs 50,000 (USD 2,000). Fixed annual fee Rs 120,000 (USD 3,800). Unless the directory states a different conversion rule, USD figures apply only to an applicant for a Global Business Licence or a corporation holding a Global Business Licence. FSC Circular Letter CL20260107 (1 July 2026) records that the replacement fee schedule operates from 1 July 2026 and that annual fees are due by 30 September 2026. A circular does not rewrite the activity this code authorises. |
| Status at cut-off | Published specialised-financial-services category as at 1 July 2026. |
The structured library card keeps the same coordinates for search. Open FS-2.8 in the reference library.
FSC codified list of licences, authorisations, approvals, recognitions and registrations ↗Register noteFinancial Services Act 2007 ↗Register noteFSC licensing and fees amendment rules 2026 ↗Register noteFSC Circular Letter CL20260107 — review of fees and renewal of licences ↗Register noteFSC rules and regulations directory ↗Register noteSecurities Act 2005 ↗Register note
PAUSE & REFLECT
Check your understanding.
Three questions to make the ideas stick. Your score is saved on this browser; this is a learning exercise, not a qualification.
Follow the sources.
Each title opens the published text. The register note records the edition used for this course.
- FSC codified list of licences, authorisations, approvals, recognitions and registrations ↗ All published category codes, fees, forms and licensing-criteria columns; consolidation as at 1 July 2026 · Register note
- Financial Services Act 2007 ↗ Sections 2, 14, 14A, 16–18, 25, 33, 71A, 72, 77, 77A, 77B, 77C, 78, 79A; Second Schedule Parts I–III; Fifth Schedule · Register note
- FSC licensing and fees amendment rules 2026 ↗ Rule 3 and replacement First Schedule; rule 4 commencement · Register note
- FSC Circular Letter CL20260107 — review of fees and renewal of licences ↗ 1 July 2026 fee review; annual-fee due date 30 September 2026; FSCOne alternative arrangements · Register note
- FSC rules and regulations directory ↗ Consolidated licensing and fees rules; sector-specific rules including Securities (Licensing) Rules and Family Office Rules · Register note
- Securities Act 2005 ↗ Sections 9–11, 29–30, 53, 86, 97–101, 155(2)(xc) · Register note
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