Prospectus Regulation and Prospectus Liability

This book provides integrated analysis of and guidance on the Prospectus Regulation 2017, civil liability for a misleading prospectus, and securities litigation in a European context. The prospectus rules are one of the cornerstones of the EU Capital Markets Union and analysis of this aspect of harmonisation, the areas not covered by the rules, and the impact of Brexit, provides valuable reference for all advising and researching this field. The book discusses the subjects of Prospectus Regulation from both a legal and economic perspective. It focuses on key subjects of the new Prospectus Regulation, providing an in-depth analysis of each issue. The book then moves on to explain the domestic law on liability for a misleading prospectus, this issue being omitted from the Regulation. The law and practice in each of the key capital markets centres in Europe is analysed and compared, with the UK chapter covering the issues and possible solutions under Brexit. A chapter on securities litigation gives full consideration of conflicts of laws issues with reference to the Brussels I regulation, and the Rome I and II Regulations. The book concludes by looking to the future of disclosure practices in connection with securities offerings in the EU.

Author(s):  
de Serière Victor

This chapter addresses the non-financial information to be included in a prospectus, alongside an analysis of the fundamental concept of materiality. It examines some issues relating to non-financial information to be included in a prospectus under the new EU prospectus regime. A level playing field in terms of uniform investor protection within the EU accordingly has regrettably not been achieved. This chapter argues that the Prospectus Regulation could have achieved more by requiring Member States to impose certain uniform tort law requirements in their national prospectus liability regimes. Another topic addressed in this chapter relates to the possibility for offerors of securities to obtain liability protection by including exoneration clauses in prospectuses. The Prospectus Regulation does not regulate this topic, but the analysis in this chapter shows that the possibilities appear to be severely limited; practice in any event shows that exoneration is seldom (if ever) stipulated. The chapter concludes that all this appears to be relatively good news in terms of investor protection generally, but the lack of harmonisation stands in the way of a unified EU capital markets union.


Author(s):  
Michele Chang

Although the UK enjoyed an opt-out from EMU, Chang explains that it was influential in its development. The UK successfully defended its interests in financial services despite EMU. Moreover, it often acted as a shield for non-Eurozone countries. Therefore, the withdrawal of the UK from the EU is likely to have an impact within the EMU, altering interstate alliances, changing the balance between euro-ins and euro-outs, and reducing the need to act outside the legal framework of the EU. In addition, the shortfall in the EU budget resulting from the end of the UK financial contributions may change the stakes in fiscal negotiations, creating room for the establishment of a Eurozone fiscal capacity. Finally, it is uncertain to what extent post-Brexit the EU may be able to push forward with the Capital Markets Union and whether the UK may stay connected to it.


Significance The Commission's plan aims to further the freedom of movement for capital within the EU single market, and so boost growth. Capital movement is hampered by different national regulations, tax and accounting rules, and national interpretations of EU directives. The Commission aims especially to facilitate financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Impacts The nature of the policy area and the Commission's plans mean SMEs' access to financing is unlikely to ease quickly. The UK government will use the CMU to say the EU is liberalising, but its end-2017 referendum deadline falls before results will be clear. Post-crash, renewed financial sector liberalisation carries risks and could excite political opposition, including on the UK left.


Author(s):  
Emilios Avgouleas

This chapter offers a critical overview of the issues that the European Union 27 (EU-27) will face in the context of making proper use of financial innovation to further market integration and risk sharing in the internal financial market, both key objectives of the drive to build a Capital Markets Union. Among these is the paradigm shift signalled by a technological revolution in the realm of finance and payments, which combines advanced data analytics and cloud computing (so-called FinTech). The chapter begins with a critical analysis of financial innovation and FinTech. It then traces the EU market integration efforts and explains the restrictive path of recent developments. It considers FinTech's potential to aid EU market integration and debates the merits of regulation dealing with financial innovation in the context of building a capital markets union in EU-27.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica García Quesada

AbstractFailures of compliance with European Union (EU) directives have revealed the EU as a political system capable of enacting laws in a wide range of different policy areas, but facing difficulties to ensure their actual implementation. Although the EU relies on national enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with the EU legislation, there is scarce analysis of the differential deterrent effect of national enforcement in EU law compliance. This article examines the enforcement of an EU water directive, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, in Spain and the UK. It focuses on the existing national sanctions for disciplining actors in charge of complying with EU requirements, and on the actual use of punitive sanctions. The analysis shows that a more comprehensive and active disciplinary regime at the national level contributes to explain a higher degree of compliance with EU law. The article calls for a detailed examination of the national administrative and criminal sanction system for a more comprehensive understanding of the incentives and disincentives to comply with EU law at the national state level.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Braun ◽  
Marina Hübner

This article seeks to situate and explain the European Union’s push for a Capital Markets Union – and thus for a more market-based financial system – in the broader context of macroeconomic governance in politically fractured polities. The current governance structure of the European Monetary Union severely limits the capacity of both national and supranational actors to provide a core public good: macroeconomic stabilization. While member states have institutionalized fiscal austerity and abandoned other macroeconomic levers, the European polity lacks the fiscal resources necessary to achieve stable macroeconomic conditions – smoothing the business cycle, ensuring growth and job creation and mitigating the impact of output shocks on consumption. Capital Markets Union, we argue, is the attempt of European policymakers to devise a financial fix to this structural capacity gap. Using its regulatory powers, the Commission, supported by the European Central Bank (ECB), seeks to harness private financial markets and instruments to provide the public policy good of macroeconomic stabilization. We trace how technocrats, think tanks, and financial-sector lobbyists, through the strategic use of knowledge and expertise, established securitization and market-based finance as solutions to the European Monetary Union’s governance problems.


Author(s):  
Anthony Salamone

As Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson was a prominent campaigner for a ‘Remain’ vote in the European Union referendum of June 2016. Following the 2017 general election, meanwhile, Davidson repositioned herself as someone who could – aided by 13 Scottish Tory MPs in the House of Commons – influence the Brexit negotiations and nudge the UK Conservative Party towards a ‘soft’ rather than ‘hard’ deal with the EU. This chapter considers the impact of Brexit on the Scottish Conservatives during the leadership of Ruth Davidson in four dimensions: Brexit’s distinct Scottish political context, its electoral consequences, the conduct of Brexit within the UK, and the Brexit negotiations themselves. It concludes with reflections on the future prospects for the Scottish party in light of all four dimensions.


Author(s):  
Jeremy Horder

This chapter examines three major examples of financial crime: fraud, bribery, and money laundering. The importance of financial crime, and of vigorous prosecution policies in relation to it, should not be underestimated. Fraud accounts for no less than one third of all crimes captured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The European Union Parliament has estimated that corruption costs the EU between €179 and €990 billion each year. Finally, the Home Office estimates that the impact of money laundering on the UK economy is likely to exceed £90 billion. An understanding of these crimes, and in particular the way that they reflect corporate activity, is nowadays essential to the study of criminal law.


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