Listing Act has now been published in the EU Official Journal
28 Nov 2024
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On 14 November 2024, the final components of the Listing Act package were published in the Official Journal of the EU. The Listing Act is a legislative package aimed at making EU public capital markets more accessible and attractive, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The package is designed to simplify regulations, reduce administrative burdens and lower listing costs, encouraging more companies to seek funding on European stock exchanges.
We set out below a summary of key components of the Listing Act below:
- A repeal of the EU Directive 2001/34 (the Listing Directive) and its replacement by the introduction of rules for the admission of shares to regulated markets within EU Directive 2014/65 (MiFID II).
- Amendments to EU Regulation 2017/1129 (the Prospectus Regulation). Key changes include:
- New and broadened existing exemptions to the obligation to publish a prospectus when offering securities to the public
- A revamped regime for secondary issuances, including a type of prospectus with reduced content called the “EU Follow-on prospectus”
- Relaxed requirements for offerings which qualify for the publication of an EU Growth prospectus
- Relaxed requirements and standardisation for prospectuses more generally, including page limits
- Shorter minimum offering periods for IPOs
- Amendments and simplifications to certain disclosure requirements under EU Regulation 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation).
- Introduction of a new EU Directive to standardise across the EU the practice of companies being able to have multiple classes of voting shares, when listing their shares on a multilateral trading facility.
The Member States are required to transpose the changes to the Listing Directive and MiFID II into national law by 6 June 2026 and for the multiple-vote shares directive by 5 December 2026. Amendments to the Prospectus Regulation and Market Abuse Regulation have already come into effect, subject to exceptions.
The final versions of the legislative acts published in the EU Official Journal can be found here:
- Listing Directive and MiFID II
- Prospectus Regulation and Market Abuse Regulation
- Multiple-vote shares directive
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