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News Releases
No. 12/07
February 14, 2007
EUROPEAN COMMISSION WELCOMES NEW US PROPOSALS ALLOWING EASIER DEREGISTRATION FROM CAPITAL MARKETS
The European Commission has welcomed new rules proposed
by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) that would make it much easier for non-US
companies listed on US capital markets to deregister
from those markets at a time of their choosing, once
certain criteria have been fulfilled. In the
Commission's view, the new rules, which are based on a
comparison of the company's trading volume on the US
market and on its primary market, have the potential largely
to resolve issues concerning the existing rules,
which are based on the number of US investors and are
considered by EU companies to be overly restrictive. In
addition, the Commission strongly encourages the SEC to
ensure swift adoption of its revised proposal. The
Commission has set out these views, as well as some
additional technical comments, in a
letter to the SEC
responding to its call for comments on the proposed
rules. The Commission's response is supported by EU
Member States and European issuers associations.
 Internal Market and Services Commissioner
Charlie
McCreevy said: "The SEC's new approach is sensible,
practical and workable. EU companies will be more
inclined to enter US capital markets and stay there if
rules on leaving those markets are made less
restrictive. This represents real progress, and shows
that the EU-US
Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue can
make a difference in addressing transatlantic financial
issues."
Technical comments
In its letter, the Commission has also made some
technical comments on SEC's proposal. In particular, the
Commission would like to see an increase in the trading
volume threshold, which stands at 5% under the proposal.
A higher threshold would allow a higher number of EU
issuers to use the new rule.
Also, the Commission has requested the SEC to use the
worldwide trading volume instead of the primary market
trading volume, thus taking into account all markets
where the security is traded.
Further information
The Commission's letter and relevant background material
are available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/global/index_en.htm
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Further Contact Information
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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