The Commission has today proposed new rules to give small and medium enterprises (SMEs) better access to financing through public markets.
Part of the EU's Capital Markets Union (CMU) agenda, today's initiative should help EU companies to tap market-based funding more easily and cheaply so that they can expand.
Despite the benefits of stock exchange listings, EU public markets for SMEs can struggle to attract new issuers. This is why the Commission, as announced in the Mid-Term Review of the CMU Action Plan in June 2017, wants to adapt existing EU rules on access to public markets. This complements a comprehensive series of measures already adopted by the Commission since the launch of the CMU to improve access to market-based finance for SMEs.
The aim is to cut red-tape for small and medium companies trying to list and issue securities on 'SME Growth Markets', a new category of trading venue dedicated to small issuers, and to foster the liquidity of publicly-listed SME shares. The new
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