In May, the Council of the European Union adopted a proposal to repeal and replace the prospectus directive and the existing regulation with a new harmonised set of rules covering the content, format, approval and publication of prospectuses throughout the EU. The new regulation includes an extended employee share scheme exemption, which removes the requirement for third country equivalence determinations for non-EU issuers. In order to qualify for the exemption, schemes will be required to issue a document detailing the basic information relating to the offer of securities.
Member states will be able to set their own de minimis threshold between €1m and €8m for companies issuing prospectuses. The current regulation applies a single threshold of €5m for all.
The new regulation is expected to become effective in all member states by July 2019. See http://bit.ly/2syfh1e.
Baker & McKenzie, the international law firm, has pointed out that while the extended share scheme exemption should provide some relief for UK issuers later in 2019 after Brexit, it is not clear whether those launching share plans into the EU will be able to rely on the existing exemption for the period between the UK’s expected departure in March 2019 and the effective date of the new regulation in July.
In May, the Council of the European Union adopted a proposal to repeal and replace the prospectus directive and the existing regulation with a new harmonised set of rules covering the content, format, approval and publication of prospectuses throughout the EU. The new regulation includes an extended employee share scheme exemption, which removes the requirement for third country equivalence determinations for non-EU issuers. In order to qualify for the exemption, schemes will be required to issue a document detailing the basic information relating to the offer of securities.
Member states will be able to set their own de minimis threshold between €1m and €8m for companies issuing prospectuses. The current regulation applies a single threshold of €5m for all.
The new regulation is expected to become effective in all member states by July 2019. See http://bit.ly/2syfh1e.
Baker & McKenzie, the international law firm, has pointed out that while the extended share scheme exemption should provide some relief for UK issuers later in 2019 after Brexit, it is not clear whether those launching share plans into the EU will be able to rely on the existing exemption for the period between the UK’s expected departure in March 2019 and the effective date of the new regulation in July.
.jpg?sfvrsn=335a554c_0 "300 x 250 (MPU)")