Consultation to extend shareholder notification obligations
Stibbe has taken part in the public consultation concerning the draft Act on the extension of substantial holding notification obligations, which was commissioned by the Dutch Minister of Finance. In its consultation response, Stibbe objected to the draft bill and recommended it be abandoned.
The draft bill proposes to set a new minimum threshold of 2% to replace the existing thresholds for disclosure of control and capital in issuers with the Netherlands as their home Member State. In practice, this means that anyone who receives a share or voting interest of 2% or more in an issuing institution with the Netherlands as its home Member State will have to report this to the AFM.
Stibbe recommends not adding any additional notification thresholds. Firstly, this is detrimental to the formation of the European Capital Market Union. Secondly, the draft bill achieves the opposite of what was intended. Finally, a threshold of 2% has no added value from a corporate law perspective.
Read the full response to the consultation here.
