Transparency Directive: ESMA publishes guide on major holding notifications

ESMA has published a practical guide to national rules across the European Economic Area (EEA) on major holdings notifications under the Transparency Directive. The guide aims to help market participants navigate the different requirements on investors to notify issuers when they acquire or dispose of shares admitted to trading, resulting in their total voting rights crossing certain set thresholds.

The first part of the guide contains a fact sheet for each EEA country (with the exception of Lichtenstein) setting out the national requirements in relation to notification of major holdings along with links to the relevant websites. The second part presents information on rules and practices in a series of tables, enabling market participants to compare rules across different jurisdictions.

The guide will be updated on an ad hoc basis, based on changes to national rules and practices.