Brussels is set to unveil a series of quick fixes to its financial market rules, including measures to ease trading in small-cap stocks and energy derivatives, in an attempt to boost the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The planned measures, due to be announced in the coming days, include changes to the Europe-wide Mifid II regulatory regime, tweaks to standards for company prospectuses and exemptions to “formal [regulatory] burdens where they are not strictly necessary”, according to draft papers seen by the Financial Times.
The aim is to free up more capital and time for investors to deal with the consequences of coronavirus, the papers said. The European Commission also wants to adjust its regulations to allow EU companies to access foreign exchange benchmarks that are widely used overseas.