The Prospectus Directive: What’s on the Horizon?

Originally published 1 July 2010

Keywords: EU Prospectus Directive, disclosure, rights issues, retail cascades, employee share scheme exemption, wholesale debt minimum denominations,

Background

This alert looks at some of the key changes being proposed to the EU Prospectus Directive, including the introduction of a reduced disclosure regime for rights issues, a new exemption for retail cascades, a wider employee share scheme exemption and (less helpfully) an increase in wholesale debt minimum denominations.

The draft amending directive (Amending Directive) has been approved by the European Parliament, and is expected to be acceptable to both the European Council and the European Commission. It will come into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal. Member states will then have 18 months to implement the Amending Directive, so the changes may not be reflected in the national law of member states until early 2012.