On 1 October 2019, ESMA published on its website its guidelines
on risk factors under the Prospectus Regulation. The guidelines are
addressed to each Member State's competent authority to assist
their review of risk factors in a prospectus and/or a supplement.
However, ESMA encourages those responsible for the preparation of a
prospectus to consider the guidelines when preparing documents for
submission in relation to the specificity, materiality and
presentation of risk factors.
There are 12 areas of guidance set out across six categories in
the guidelines: specificity, materiality, corroboration,
categorisation, conciseness and the summary. There are also
illustrative examples included in Annex I which set out what ESMA
considers appropriate risk factors to be, as well as explanations
as to how they adhere to the Guidelines.
