Can you explain the European Commissions reasons for implementing the EU Prospectus Directive (“the Directive”) in 2005?
Brettle: The Directive was issued in response to regulations implemented by the Prospectus Regulations of 2005. Broadly speaking it is a document which lists all of the initial disclosure obligations required by issuers of securities that are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market in the EU. The concept was introduced to give issuers a passport to raise capital across the EU based on the requirement of a single prospectus. Its main objective was to harmonise prospectus requirements across the EU. The reality though is that regulatory bodies in different member states have taken different interpretive approaches to the exemptions and exclusions in the Directive. Q: In your experience, how has this affected global companies operating employee equity plans in the EU? Greenacre: It has been necessary to adopt a country-by-country approach when offering plans across a number of European countries. In nearly all cases it has been possible for our clients to offer
