In May 2016, Accountacy Europe published a paper on Simplified prospectus for SMEs, prepared in cooperation with two groupings of accountancy firms: the European Contact Group (ECG) and the European Group of International Accounting Networks and Associations (EGIAN). The paper presented principles and guidelines for a proportionate SME prospectus regime by making prospectus shorter, simpler and less costly to produce.
The current model prospectus is the result of applying the proposals in the paper Simplified prospectus for SMEs from May 2016 to the original prospectus of a Swedish company, Gränges. According to Accountancy Europe: „The outcome is less than 30% of the original prospectus’ volume, more to-the-point and responds to the needs of investors and businesses. This demonstrates that our recommendations can help policy makers simplify SME prospectuses.”
The model prospectus is divided into eight chapters namely:
- The company and its business model
- Insight into the key market features
- Explanation of the business strategy
- Identification of key risk factors specific to the company
- The governance and ownership structure
- Overview of performance
- Management’s view on market trends and the company’s forecasts
- Reasons for offering and use of proceeds
The full publication is available on the Accountancy Europe website.
