Legal Alert - The Netherlands to Implement the Transparency Directive 

The Dutch Parliament is expected to adopt an act (the "Act") before the end of this year implementing certain provisions of  Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements (the "Transparency Directive").

The Act is expected to come into force on 1 January 2008 and will amend the:

• Financial Markets Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht, the "FMSA") by introducing a new chapter 1a in the FMSA's Part 5 dealing with the supervision of conduct on markets in financial instruments;
• Act on the Supervision of Financial Reporting (Wet toezicht financiële verslaggeving); and
• Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek).

The Transparency Directive's aim is to ensure appropriate transparency for investors through a regular flow of complete, accurate and timely information. The Netherlands has already implemented the provisions of the Transparency Directive dealing with disclosure obligations regarding shareholdings and holdings of voting rights (chapter 5.3 of the FMSA).
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