Publication
Horizon Scanning: Investigations and Enforcement
In this horizon scan, we focus on key developments affecting companies operating in the UK, including in light of the recent change in UK government.
Global | Publication | April 6, 2018
Welcome to Essential Corporate News, our weekly news service covering the latest developments in the UK corporate world.
On April 5, 2018 Companies House published its business plan for the period April 2018 to March 2019. The business plan sets out the work Companies House proposes to undertake to progress towards its strategic goals of developing its online services and guidance, making sure the data on the register is right and continuing to build a high performance culture.
Companies House plans to introduce a three-year transformation programme to fully digitalise its services. The business plan outlines a number of areas for improvement and states that Companies House will be working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on policy development, including in relation to:
In relation to PSC information in particular, Companies House intends to:
On April 3, 2018 the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report on technical advice under the Prospectus Regulation. The technical advice has been published in response to a mandate from the European Commission in February 2017 and has been developed further following three public consultations. The technical advice covers the format and content of a prospectus, the EU growth prospectus and the scrutiny and approval of prospectuses.
Format and content of prospectus
ESMA sets out a number of changes aimed at easing requirements for issuers, with a view to reducing the cost and administrative burden in using a prospectus, as well as a number of additional disclosure requirements that are deemed necessary for investor protection. This includes limiting the number of sections and annexes to the existing prospectus structure.
In the final report ESMA has made changes to its consultation proposals in relation to:
Content, format and sequence of the EU growth prospectus
The final report identifies the minimum disclosure requirements for the EU Growth prospectus, the order in which the parts of it should be presented, and the format and content of the specific summary required. Changes have also been made to the format of the EU Growth prospectus, the content of the EU Growth registration document, the content of the EU Growth securities note and the content of the EU Growth summary.
Scrutiny and approval of prospectus
ESMA proposes that standard criteria for scrutiny of the completeness, comprehensibility and consistency of the prospectus should be adopted. Beyond the standard criteria, national competent authorities should be afforded a certain level of flexibility as ESMA believes this is necessary to ensure investor protection. ESMA has made changes to the scrutiny of the prospectus, the scrutiny and review of the universal registration document, approval of the prospectus, approval and filing of the universal registration document, as well as the conditions for losing the status of frequent issuer.
Next steps
The final report has been delivered to the European Commission. Subject to endorsement by the European Commission, the technical advice will form the basis for the delegated acts to be adopted by the European Commission by January 21, 2019.
(ESMA, Final report on technical advice under the Prospectus Regulation, 03.04.18)
Publication
In this horizon scan, we focus on key developments affecting companies operating in the UK, including in light of the recent change in UK government.
Publication
On 3 September 2024, the ECJ delivered its judgment in Illumina’s appeal against the General Court’s (GC) judgment confirming the European Commission’s (EC) powers to review concentrations under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) in circumstances where no Member State has jurisdiction under national law.
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