The Financial Market Authority (FMA) approved a total of eleven prospectuses during the fourth quarter of 2013, which was slightly less than the number in the same period of the previous year (twelve in Q4 2012). The total of 100 approvals in 2013 represents a recovery from the significant decrease recorded in 2012 (76 approvals) and a return to the level seen in previous years (2011: 104, 2010: 100, 2009: 100). The FMA thus allowed a maximum volume of roughly € 71.6 billion to be issued during 2013 as a whole (2012: € 40.9 billion). The number of supplements approved during Q4 2013 was again down from the same quarter of the previous year, decreasing from 21 to 18. A total of 62 supplements were approved in 2013 – significantly fewer than the 80 approved the year before (2011: 65, 2010: 48, 2009: 44). The number of discontinued approval procedures continues to decline, and no procedures were discontinued in the fourth quarter (Q4 2012: 2). A total of three procedures were discontinued in all of 2013, while there had been six in 2012 (2011: 7, 2010: 7, 2009: 16). The news was disclosed in the Q4 Report on Austrian Supervision of Capital Market Prospectuses, published today by the FMA.
The number of issuers submitting prospectuses for approval in Q4 was ten, thus increasing by about 25% compared with the same quarter of the previous year. When broken down by issuer categories, the large number of prospectus approvals for IPOs, capital increases and listing prospectuses stands out in particular (Q4 2013: 6, Q4 2012: 2). While this category also shows a strong increase in a comparison of the overall year with previous ones (2013: 15, 2012: 6, 2011: 9), no approvals were issued in the category of building loan banks. The number of approvals in the categories of base prospectuses and bonds, at two each, remained at the same level as in the same period of the previous year.
In order to use a prospectus or a supplement in another EEA Member State, a notification must first be sent to the competent authority of the particular country. A survey of incoming notifications reveals a significant increase in Q4 2013, specifically to 68 after 39 in Q4 2012, while the number of notified incoming supplements, at 591, similarly rose in comparison with Q4 2012 (476). The number of incoming prospectus notifications in 2013 totalled 394, resulting in a slight increase over the previous years (2012: 383, 2011: 386, 2010: 377). The number of outgoing notifications, in contrast, remained relatively constant, at four prospectuses in Q4 2013 compared with three in Q4 2012, as did the number of outgoing supplements (Q4 2013: 14, Q4 2012: 13). The same trend is reflected by the total number of notified prospectuses in comparison with previous years (2013: 31, 2012: 26, 2011: 30) as well as by total supplements (2013: 29, 2012: 34, 2011: 33).
During Q4 2013, while the FMA did not have to impose any administrative penalties in response to infringements of the Capital Market Act (compared with three in Q4 2012), four cases were reported to the public prosecutor’s office (Q4 2012: 1). A comparison with the previous year as a whole also reveals an increase in the number of cases reported (2013: 10, 2012: 6), as well as a declining trend for the number of administrative penalties imposed (2013: 6, 2012: 23).
You can find the full Quarterly Report (in German) on the FMA website at: https://www.fma.gv.at/kapitalmaerkte/aufsicht-ueber-kapitalmarktprospekte/quartalsberichte/
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43/(0)1/24959-6006
+43/(0)676/882 49 516