EUROPE – Fifty European organisations, businesses and professionals have submitted a formal petition to the European Commission to include provisions related to social responsibility in its new directives on prospectus obligations.

The prospectus directive currently being discussed by the Commission is aimed at imposing simpler and uniform prospectus obligations in order to develop a more efficient, competitive and integrated European financial market.

While the fifty signatories support the need for simplification, they are concerned that companies will not provide investors with correct and complete information in prospectuses. And, in addition to transparent disclosure of a company’s financial position, the group of fifty believe companies should be obliged to communicate the relevant social, ecological and ethical risks and liabilities.

Among the fifty signatories on the petition, are represented the following bodies: Ethibel, EuroSif (European Sustainable and Responsible Investment Forum), Siri Group (Sustainable Investment Research Institute), SNS Asset Management, and KBC Bank.

Says Herwig Peeters, senior consultant at Ethibel: “If Europe wishes to adopt a competitive position on the financial markets, it is not only a matter of reducing the administrative work for enterprises, but also of giving international investors as complete a picture as possible of what their investments represent, both financially and socially.”

The final directive is expected by the end of 2003.

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