Regulation 2024/2809 - Amendment of Regulations (EU) 2017/1129, (EU) No 596/2014 and (EU) No 600/2014 to make public capital markets in the Union more attractive for companies and to facilitate access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises - Main contents

Official Journal

of the European Union

EN

L series

2024/2809

14.11.2024

The capital markets union (CMU) presented in the communication of the Commission of 30 September 2015 on an Action Plan on Building a Capital Markets Union aims to develop Union capital markets and decrease their fragmentation along national borders, thereby enabling companies to access funding sources other than bank lending and to adapt their financing structure when maturing and growing in size. More diversified financing in the form of debt and equity will decrease risks for individual companies and the overall economy, as well as help Union companies, including small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), realise their growth potential. It is acknowledged that the CMU needs to be realised more quickly and that investment needs to reach the levels made necessary by the Union’s policy priorities related to environmental protection, digitalisation and strategic autonomy. Moving forward in the area of listing is a necessary step for the CMU, especially in the short term, but as a stand-alone measure it cannot be sufficient.

The CMU requires an effective and efficient regulatory framework that supports access to public equity funding for companies, including SMEs. Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) created a new type of trading venue, the SME growth market, to facilitate access to capital specifically for SMEs. Directive 2014/65/EU also expressed the need to monitor how future regulation should further foster and promote the use of SME growth markets and provide further incentives for SMEs to access capital markets through SME growth markets. Such measures need to ensure not only that SME growth markets provide an increasingly attractive opportunity for SMEs to raise funds but also that, with time and success, SMEs are able to access other capital markets, if they choose to do so.

Regulation (EU) 2019/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) introduced proportionate alleviations to enhance the use of SME growth markets and to reduce the regulatory requirements for issuers seeking the admission of securities on SME growth markets, while preserving an appropriate level of investor protection and market integrity. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to make access to Union public markets more attractive and render the regulatory treatment of companies more flexible and proportionate to their size. The High-Level Forum on the CMU recommended that the Commission remove regulatory obstacles that hold back companies from accessing public markets. The Technical Expert Stakeholder Group on SMEs set out detailed recommendations on how to foster access by companies and, in particular, SMEs to Union public markets.

Building on one of the Commission’s initiatives within its post-COVID19 recovery strategy, namely, the Capital Markets Recovery Package, targeted amendments have been introduced into Regulations (EU) 2017/1129 (5) and (EU) 2017/2402 (6) of the...