01 September 2020

EBF: Banks underline need for smooth implementation of SRD II

The Second Shareholder Rights Directive becomes applicable soon and the European Banking Federation calls on the European Commission and EU regulators to ensure a smooth and gradual implementation of the new rules designed to deepen corporate governance in the EU’s capital markets.

With only a few days to go before the European Union’s second Shareholder Rights Directive becomes applicable the European Banking Federation calls on the European Commission and EU regulators to ensure a smooth and gradual implementation of the new rules designed to deepen corporate governance in the EU’s capital markets.

The European Banking Federation asks EU regulators and supervisors to consider three critical aspects during the implementation. First, enable a smooth adoption with a transition period towards full implementation. Secondly, conduct a broad review of the SRD II implementation that also considers inherent problems inherent such as the absence of a harmonized definition of shareholders in EU member states. And finally, avoid as much as possible any further fragmentation in EU financial services.

The European Banking Federation and its members firmly support any steps that will make European capital markets function better and more efficiently. Broader access to financial markets remains the long-term objective of SRD II to which European banks are also fully committed, as is evident through the industry’s involvement in the Markets4Europe campaign for a proper Capital Markets Union.

The Implementing Regulation for SRD II will become applicable from 3 September. The European Commission in June decided to dismiss a call from the European financial services sector, including the EBF, for a twelve-month delay. By doing so it countered industry arguments by saying that the disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic made it even more important for shareholders to communicate electronically and to vote remotely at annual general meetings. Trade associations had argued that their members needed more time to get ready for SRD II because of the disruption caused by the pandemic.

EBF

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