Yesterday EU ambassadors endorsed the Council’s position on a proposal to grant easier access to SMEs trying to list and issue securities on financial markets while safeguarding investor protection and market integrity. According to the Council’s Press Release, the proposed rules aim to reduce the administrative burden and provide SMEs with simpler access to capital markets. As the most important contributors to jobs and growth in Europe, SMEs are overly reliant on bank loans for their funding and it is, therefore, crucial to ensure that they can diversify their financing sources. Next step in this process will be the negotiations between the Council and the Parliament, that are about to start.
To read the full Council’s Press Release, click here.