EU

The new Prospectus Directive – can one size really fit all?

Katie McCaw, Norton Rose, London

With the ultimate aim of facilitating the raising of, and access to, capital within the European Union (EU), the European Commission (“the Commission”) has published a proposal for a new Prospectus Directive. The proposed Directive would completely overhaul existing regimes for prospectuses, currently set out in two Directives, the first of which is over two decades old (Directive 80/390/EEC of March 17 1980 on Listing Particulars, and Directive 89/298/EEC of 17 April 1989 on Public Offers). A main priority of the Commission’s Financial Services Action Plan, the proposed Directive is an important element in creating a fully integrated capital market within Europe.