EU

The Transparency Directive: what does it mean for issuers of securities?

Tim Morris and Adrian Cartwright, Clifford Chance, London

The European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on transparency requirements for securities issuers (the Transparency Directive) has at last been agreed upon by the EU Council and the EU Parliament. Its proponents hope that this Directive, a key element of the EU’s Financial Services Action Plan, will greatly enhance the European financial market. This article examines the more significant elements of its likely impact on issuers of securities in the international market. For many EU-incorporated issuers its impact may be relatively limited but for many non-EU issuers it has potentially very significant consequences.