The Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC (the "Prospectus Directive") and the Prospectus Regulation No 809/2004 (the "Prospectus Regulation") were amended by Directive 2010/73/EU (the "Amending Directive") and Regulations Nos 311/2012, 486/2012 and 862/2012 (together the "New Prospectus Regulation") respectively.

Implementation status

On 6 August 2013 the Act transposing into Belgian law the Amending Directive (the "Amending Act") was finally published in the Belgian Official Gazette, although the Member States were supposed to have implemented the Amending Directive in their national legislation by no later than 1 July 2012.

The Amending Act modifies the Belgian Act of 16 June 2006 on public offers of investment instruments and admission of investment instruments to trading on regulated markets (the "Belgian Prospectus Act") effective as of 16 August 2013.

The New Prospectus Regulation entered into force on 1 July 2012. As this Regulation has direct effect in the Member States the Belgian prospectus regime changed considerably on that date.

This newsletter focuses on (1) the most significant changes to the current rules of the Belgian Prospectus Act (please click here) and (2) the main amendments to Belgian capital markets practice resulting from the new Prospectus Regulation (please click

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.