(6)New ECAIs that have entered the securitisation market after the development of the mappings in 2006 on the basis of Article 97 of Directive 2006/48/EC have not assigned a sufficient number of ratings for the historical performance of those ratings to be assessed with statistical confidence. Nevertheless, it is necessary to extend the mapping of credit assessments to credit quality steps that is assigned to long-established ECAIs to new ECAIs, in order to strike the right balance between developing a prudent mapping for all ECAIs and avoiding causing substantial competitive disadvantages.