The following legislation that comprises the EU Listing Act package has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union:
The Listing Regulation and Directive aim to streamline the rules applicable to companies, particularly SMEs, going through a listing process or companies already listed on EU public markets, by alleviating administrative burdens and costs, while preserving a sufficient degree of transparency, investor protection and market integrity. The Listing Directive also amends the EU requirements on how payments are made for investment research. EU firms will be permitted to choose whether to make joint or separate payments for third-party research and execution services. This follows the U.K. change to its rules, which took effect in August. We discuss the EU and U.K. changes in our note, "UK allows bundled payments for third-party research and trading commissions."
The Multiple-Vote Shares Directive creates a minimum harmonization at EU level that removes obstacles for the access of SMEs with multiple-vote structures to SME growth markets and any other multilateral trading facility open to trading of SME shares. The directive protects the rights of shareholders with fewer votes per share by introducing safeguards on how key decisions are taken at general meetings and also helps investors to take decisions by mandating transparency measures for companies with multiple-vote share structures.
The legislation enters into force December 4, 2024. Member states will have until June 4, 2026 to transpose the Listing Directive (EU) 2024/2811 into national legislation and until December 4, 2026 to transpose the Multiple-vote Directive (EU) 2024/2810.
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