New EU Proposal Would Lower Threshold for Reporting Securities Ownership

Washington, DC, June 20, 2002 - The European Union (EU) recently requested a second round of comments on a proposal that would lower the threshold under which investors report significant ownership of securities. The EU proposal would lower the threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent, and would shorten the time in which reports must be filed to five days.

In an April comment letter regarding an original proposal, the Institute recommended that if the European Commission determined to lower the threshold, it should tailor the reporting rules for institutional investors, such as mutual funds, pension funds, and their investment managers, that do not invest for a change-of-control purpose. The Institute suggested that the Commission institute a higher reporting threshold for institutional investors or provide streamlined filing rules by permitting them to file annually.