Transparency Directive: Implementation of the major shareholding notifications, periodic financial reporting and equal treatment obligations
The purpose of the Transparency Directive is to enhance transparency in EU capital markets in order to improve investor protection and market efficiency. It does this by establishing rules on periodic financial reports and other continuing reporting obligations, and the disclosure of major shareholdings, for issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in the EU. The Directive must be implemented into national law by all Member States no later than 20 January 2007.
The UK is implementing the Directive through the Companies Bill, by inserting new sections into the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. These new sections will give the FSA the power to make rules for the purposes of the transparency directive, and give the FSA the necessary regulatory powers to enforce its transparency rules.
In 2005 the Treasury consulted on its proposed approach to implementing the Directive’s major shareholdings notifications obligations.
The attached feedback statement sets out the response to the consultation on the Treasury’s proposals for major shareholdings notifications. It also sets out the policy position on implementing the periodic financial reporting obligations and provides a final RIA for the Government’s implementation of the Directive.
PDF file of feedback statement
PDF file of responses to the consultation on proposals for major shareholdings notifications
PDF file of Regulatory Impact Assessment
The FSA has been simultaneously consulting on its approach to detailed implementation of the Directive while the Companies Bill progresses through Parliament
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/cp/cp06_04.pdf
As part of the implementation of the Directive, the Government has also chosen to set out issuers’ liability in respect of disclosures required by the Directive. In May 2006, the DTI sought representations on these provisions as part of a broader consultation on narrative reporting provisions in the Bill. A brief summary of responses on the Transparency Directive liability provisions is also included in the feedback statement. Responses to the consultation of Transparency Directive liability provisions are also attached. The Government separately is considering the broad issue issue of the desirability of a comprehensive statutory liability regime in respect of other classes of disclosures made by issuers.
PDF file of responses to the consultation on Transparency Directive liability provisions
The feedback statement is available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.