An agreement has been reached on making it easier and quicker for businesses to raise funds in the European capital markets. The agreement between the European Commission and the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) of the Council reforms rules on providing a prospectus to investors, which can be costly and laborious for companies to produce. Under the Prospectus Directive, the legal prospectus documents can run to hundreds of pages and contain detailed information. On the other side of the coin, however, they are time-consuming for investors to analyse.

Jonathan Hill, EU Commissioner responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said in a statement: “I am really pleased that the Council has reached agreement on our proposal to reform the Prospectus Directive so quickly. Getting this right will make it easier, quicker and cheaper for businesses to raise money on the markets, while ensuring investors get the information they need. This is another step forward for the Capital Markets Union: I hope the European Parliament can now agree on its position quickly so more businesses can get funding to expand.”

The next step of this reforms is the trilogues stage with the European Parliament, which will start after the summer.

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CTMfile take: This is another step taken by the EU's Capital Markets Union programme to simplify and facilitate access to public funding for European corporates. It's a small step but will ease the way, at a time when funding is a problem for many.