The threshold relating to the obligation to publish a prospectus established by Article 3 of Directive 2003/71/EC was increased from EUR 50 000 to EUR 100 000 by Directive 2010/73/EU. This change should also be introduced in Regulation (EC) No 809/2004.

Directive 2010/73/EU introduced new provisions in order to enhance investor protection, reduce administrative burdens for companies when raising capital in the securities markets in the Union, and increase efficiency in the prospectus regime, which makes it necessary to adopt amendments to Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 in relation to the format of the final terms of a base prospectus, the format of the summary of the prospectus, and the detailed content and specific form of the key information to be included in the summary.

In order to avoid that the final terms of a base prospectus contain information that needs to be approved by the competent authorities, the base prospectus should contain all information which the issuer knew at the time of drawing up the prospectus.

It should be provided that the base prospectus may contain options in relation to all information required for the relevant securities note schedules and building blocks. Final terms should then state which of those options are applicable to the individual issue by referring to the relevant sections of the base prospectus or by reproducing such information. It should be allowed to include certain additional information which does not relate to the securities note in the final terms, if it is considered useful for the investors. That additional information should be specified in this Regulation.

The final terms should not amend or replace any information contained in the base prospectus as any new information which may affect the investor’s assessment of the issuer and of the securities is to be included in a supplement or a new base prospectus, which is subject to prior approval by the competent authority. Accordingly, the final terms should not include any new description of any new payment conditions which was not included in the base prospectus.

The summary should provide the investors with key information as required by Article 5(2) of Directive 2003/71/EC. For that purpose, the summary specific to the individual issue should combine that information in the summary of the base prospectus which is only relevant to the individual issue with the relevant parts of the final terms. The summary of the individual issue should be annexed to the final terms.

For securities linked to or backed by an underlying asset, the base prospectus should disclose all information about the type of underlying asset already known at the date of its approval. Therefore, only issue specific details in relation to this underlying asset should be included in the final terms as the choice of the relevant underlying asset may be influenced by market conditions.

Provisions on the format and the content of the summary of the prospectus should be laid down so that equivalent information appears in the same position in the summaries and that similar products can be easily compared. Accordingly, where an element is not applicable to a prospectus, that element should appear in the summary with the mention ‘not applicable’.

A summary should be a self-contained part of the prospectus. Where an issuer, an offeror or a person asking for admission to trading on a regulated market is not under an obligation to include a summary in a prospectus but wishes to produce an overview section in the prospectus, this section should not be entitled ‘Summary’ unless the overview section complies with all the disclosure requirements for summaries. Summaries should be drafted in plain language, presenting the information in an easily accessible way.

In order to improve the efficiency of the Union’s securities markets and reduce the administrative costs for issuers when raising capital, a proportionate disclosure regime, as required by Article 7(2)(g) of Directive 2003/71/EC, should be introduced for offers of shares to existing shareholders who can either subscribe the shares or sell the right to subscribe the shares.

As required by Article 7(2)(e) of Directive 2003/71/EC, a proportionate disclosure regime should adequately take into account the size of issuers, in particular credit institutions issuing non-equity securities referred to in Article 1(2)(j) of Directive 2003/71/EC, which chose to opt into the regime of Directive 2003/71/EC, small and medium-sized enterprises and companies with reduced market capitalisation. However, such issuers should be allowed to choose between schedules with proportionate requirements and the full disclosure regime.

The proportionate disclosure regimes should take into account the need to improve investor protection and the amount of information already disclosed to the markets.

Advertisements should inform investors when no prospectus is required in accordance with Directive 2003/71/EC unless the issuer, the offeror or the person asking for admission to trading on a regulated market chooses to publish a prospectus that complies with the requirements of Directive 2003/71/EC and this Regulation.

In consideration of the need to provide issuers with a transitional period to adapt to the new requirements introduced by this Regulation, this Regulation should only apply to prospectuses and base prospectuses which have been approved by a competent authority on the date of or after its entry into force.

Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly,