On 10 June 2019, the amendments introduced by Directive (EU) 2017/828 ("Shareholders Rights Directive") to Directive 2007/36/EC on the exercise of certain rights of shareholders in listed companies will become applicable.
The proposed changes will affect various market players1 including UCITS management companies and alternative investment fund managers ("AIFMs") managing, respectively, UCITS and AIFs which invest in shares of companies which have their registered office in a Member State and whose shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market situated or operating within a Member State ("EU Listed Companies"). Those UCITS management companies and AIFMs will be required, in particular, to develop an engagement policy and they will be subject to additional transparency requirements.
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1. For example, institutional investors (mainly life-assurance/reinsurance companies and pension institutions), asset managers (UCITS management companies, AIFMs, self-managed UCITS, and investment firms which provide portfolio management services to investors), directors of EU Listed Companies, intermediaries, proxy advisors.
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