The Shareholder Directive - SRD II
Since 2009, the European Union has made great strides to address areas of weakness in the asset protection framework through most, if not all, areas of the financial markets. This has been a systematic process that has focused, in large part, on addressing the behaviour of large institutions and market infrastructures.
However, an important piece has come to the fore and that is assuring the rights of all shareholders of equities listed in the EU and to a certain degree those of an issuer. In order to achieve this, the original Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD) that first codified corporate governance rules for EU companies and entitlement to shareholder rights across borders, was revised.
The SRD II (Directive (EU) 2017/828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 amending Directive 2007/36/EC) takes this further. The Directive shall be read together with the Commission Implementing Regulation of 3 September 2018 that lays down minimum requirements to implement the provisions of the Directive that shall be transposed into national law by all EU Member States.
Transposition
National governments are allowed a degree of latitude in some of the areas of the directive and all market participants should monitor these variations. Clearstream has been working closely with authorities in both Luxembourg and Germany to inform and shape the final national legislation.
Impact
The directive has ultimately impacted long established responsibilities, procedures and the systems that support them in delivering all Corporate Actions and General Meetings by all intermediaries in a custody chain. This covers all aspects of SRD II such as the identification of shareholders, transmission of information, facilitation of exercise of shareholders rights, General Meetings notifications and instructions, the transparency of institutional investors, asset managers and proxy advisors, remuneration of directors and related party transaction. Final intermediaries in a custody chain in particular have to review their interaction with the ultimate shareholder in order to identify where improvements need to be made.
Clearstream contribution to improve operational efficiency
Clearstream has actively participated in working groups at both the national and pan-European levels to ensure that changes improved operational efficiency.
At Clearstream we have supported our customers as of day one from Shareholder Identification to General Meetings Services.
External Links
Website of | Description |
European Banking Federation (EBF) | |
European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA) | |
Bankenverband | |
Securities Market Practice Group (SMPG) | |
Agent List - Securities Market Practice Group (SMPG) |