The Prospectus Directive: strategic considerations
The Prospectus Directive sets out the new requirements for content and approval of a prospectus applicable to securities offerings and the admission of securities to a regulated market, such as the London Stock Exchange, for listing throughout the European Economic Area (EEA). The London Stock Exchange will be introducing a new unregulated market as referred to in this article. The principal achievement of the Directive is that a prospectus approved by the regulatory authority of one EEA state can be used to make retail offers throughout the EEA without requiring further approvals. EEA companies, particularly UK companies, are in a strong position to complete the additional requirements necessary to enable them to access retail investors as they will generally be preparing their accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and most, if not all, of the additional Directive disclosure required will already be contained in their annual report and accounts.
