EU Listing Rules need to offer more effective support for SMEs, investment industry surveys find

Ahead of the European Parliament plenary vote on the EU Listing Act agreement, research from CFA Institute and BETTER FINANCE analyses investment professionals’ and retail investors’ views on whether EU listing rules are doing enough to reduce regulatory burdens for SMEs.

Brussels, 4 April 2024
Following the political agreement between the European Council and European Parliament on the EU Listing Act, a new report by CFA Institute and BETTER FINANCE finds that investment professionals and retail investors believe the listing package needs to better support SMEs to more efficiently access capital markets for their funding needs.

Ahead of the European Commission’s Listing Act package proposal in December 2022, which set out to increase the attractiveness of public markets and make capital more accessible to SMEs, CFA Institute and BETTER FINANCE carried out surveys with their EU-based memberships to gauge views on the obstacles European companies encounter when trying to get funding through capital markets. The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) provided inputs on the Listing Act package proposal in line with the themes of the survey.

The European Parliament’s plenary vote on the Act is set to take place on 22nd April, and ahead of the vote, the report emphasises the necessity for Member States to judiciously adopt any multiple voting rights shares (MVRS) directives.