On Monday 18 December, the European Commission launched a public consultation aiming to identify ways to make it easier for SMEs to go public - one of the initiatives announced in its mid-term revision of the action plan on the Capital Markets Union in June of this year (see EUROPE 11804).
In the consultation document, the Commission explains that SMEs have not been fully able to return to financing themselves on the public markets since the financial crisis, with the number of initial public offerings falling by half compared to the period 2005-2007.
In order to examine the existing regulatory obstacles, the public consultation asks stakeholders about three main issues: - how to improve the concept of 'growth market of SMEs'; - in which areas could the administrative burden on SMEs be reduced; - in which areas could targeted regulatory changes help to rebuild the local ecosystems for trading dedicated to SMEs.
The results of this exercise, which will run until 26 February 2018, will feed into the Commission's reflection on establishing a more proportionate regulatory environment to make it easier for SMEs to go public and look into the possibility of a legislative initiative in this area. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)