Part II The New EU Prospectus Rules, 13 Prospectus Formats and Shelf Registration

This chapter discusses prospectus formats and shelf registration. It reveals that the new EU prospectus rules introduce more flexibility and efficiency in the use of different prospectus formats. Different options for formats overlap even more than in the past and their use will depend on the frequency of issuances and instruments issued. The overlap between the uniform registration document (URD) and simplified prospectus will leave issuers to choose what best suits their needs, depending on how often, through which instruments and from which investors issuers seek to raise capital in future and the timing of financial disclosures. The cost of keeping an URD up-to-date for more frequent issuers and issuers requiring both equity and debt must be balanced with the utility of having different equity and debt securities registered. The option of filing annual and half-yearly reports under the Transparency Directive in the form of a URD may reduce costs for certain issuers. According to this chapter, the ‘frequent issuer status’ may in practice not offer much improvement on the service already provided by certain competent authorities, also considering the advance notice requirement. The chapter concludes that there is room for improving the URD system in future.

Transparency Regulation and Stock Price Informativeness: Evidence from the European Union's Transparency Directive

ABSTRACT We examine changes in stock price informativeness following the European Union's Transparency Directive (TPD). The TPD, implemented by country between 2007 and 2009, enhanced corporate transparency through mandating regular firm financial disclosures and facilitating the dissemination of financial reports. Using stock return synchronicity as a proxy for stock price informativeness, we find that price informativeness improved following implementation of the TPD. This improvement was more pronounced in countries with strong regulatory environments than those with weak regulatory environments. We additionally examine a later amendment to the TPD that eliminated the requirement of quarterly financial disclosures and document an increase in stock return synchronicity following the amendment. Our findings support prior research suggesting that transparency regulations improve financial information. JEL Classifications: F30; G15; G30; M4. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources cited in the text.

European Financial Services Law

This volume analyses and explains EU legislation governing financial services. It is for legal practitioners in international law firms, the financial industry, regulators, and academics needing an in-depth understanding of financial services regulations. It is intended to serve as a handy reference book, providing both easy-to-understand overviews of complex topics and insightful analyses of difficult legal issues. Experts renowned in their fields explain, article-by-article, the important EU directives and regulations governing financial services. Examples illustrate how important provisions apply in practice. Level ‡and ˆmeasures are put into context. The book is structured as follows: securities and markets Service market behaviour market transparency and information funds securities clearing and settlement payment services. For each subject area, the most relevant directives and regulations have been selected. Legal texts covered in this book include, among others, the following: MiFID II and MiFIR MAR and MAD Prospectus Directive PRIIP Regulation Transparency Directive Short Selling Regulation Rating Agency Regulation UCITS and AIFMD Venture Capital Funds Regulation Finality Directive Financial Collateral Directive EMIR SEPA Regulation.

Web based financial disclosure in European con-text: European transparency directive analysis

This study aims to explain the relationship between firm specific characteristics and the corporate Web based disclosure level in European Union countries. European companies should apply the transparency directive requirements, which clarifies principal component of corporate Websites content. We analyze the Websites content of 197 listed groups on capital market of six European countries: Germany, Spain, French, Italy, Netherlands and UK.Web disclosure level, endogenous variable, is measured by disclosure index. It includes four dimensions: content, timeliness, technology and user supports.Our findings show that profitability, concentration ownership, information technology (IT) sector and Big 4 affect significantly Web disclosure index. We conclude that IT sector determining factor of Web financial disclosure in Europe.

The Reform of the Transparency Regime in European Capital Markets Laws

Transparency of major holdings was high up on the agenda of the European legislator from early on, and these provisions are to be reformed. On 25 October 2011 the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive amending the Transparency Directive. The primary aim is to introduce extended disclosure obligations for the holders of financial instruments.The Commission further aims to enhance the sanctioning powers of the competent authorities, making the system more effective. This paper analyses the draft and puts it in context.