Companies had great expectations regarding the previous review of the Prospectus Directive in 2010 and were disappointed by the results. In particular the schedule established for right issues didn’t meet their expectations.
This review is a new opportunity to improve the prospectus regime by ensuring that disclosure requirements are proportionate and provide useful information to investors. So far, large listed companies have not identified significant changes and, in certain areas, the new 2017 Prospectus Regulation even imposes additional constraints (eg. : concise summary of price sensitive information in secondary issuance prospectus). Level 2 measures will therefore be key in delivering real alleviations. In this regard policy makers should adopt a holistic and pragmatic approach.