Council of the European Union approves transparency requirements for issuers of securities

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18 Oct, 2013

The Council of the European Union has adopted a directive updating transparency requirements for issuers of securities on regulated markets which are set out in the so-called Transparency Directive.

The changes are aimed at

  • simplifying certain obligations so as to make regulated markets more attractive for raising capital for small and medium-sized issuers, e.g. through abolishing the requirement to publish quarterly financial information),
  • improving legal clarity and effectiveness, notably with respect to the disclosure of corporate ownership (by requiring disclosure of major holdings of all financial instruments that could be used to acquire economic interest in listed companies), and
  • providing for sanctions that are sufficiently dissuasive in the event of transparency requirements being breached.

The draft directive also includes a requirement for listed companies operating in the oil, gas and mineral extractive as well as the forestry industry, to disclose payments to governments in countries where they operate (country-by-country reporting). Issuers will have to prepare on an annual basis a report on payments made to governments which has to be made public at the latest six months after the end of each financial year and must remain publicly available for at least ten years.

The directive was already approved by the European Parliament in June 2013 together with the new Accounting Directive. The directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Please click for more information on the Council's website:

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