As part of the plan to enhance the competitiveness of the Paris financial centre, the Minister of the Economy announced a reform of France's public offering regime at the Market Advisory Committee meeting on 19 March 2008.
As a consequence of the executive order provided for in the Economic Modernisation Act and the transposition of the latest EU directives, the legal regime applicable to regulated markets and to multilateral trading facilities such as Alternext is set to change significantly. In particular, there will be greater discrepancies between the guarantees offered by the various markets. Therefore, in view of the changes set out in the draft executive order, it seemed opportune to undertake an implementation review of the rules governing Alternext in order to identify any developments likely to ensure its attractiveness and maintain the overall balance of the market structure.
The Board of the AMF appointed Jean-Pierre Pinatton to chair a working group composed of industry professionals with a remit to examine:- the trade-off between flexibility and guarantees under the Alternext rules, seen in light of the changes contained in the draft executive order;
- ways for Alternext to raise its international profile, both with investors and with companies that may be interested in a European listing;
- the conditions for smooth transition from one trading platform to another.
The working group has made proposals for legislative and regulatory reforms aimed at strengthening the legal basis for some of the obligations currently applicable to Alternext-listed companies and relaxing various other measures.
The group's report (in French only) has been put out to public consultation until 30 November 2008. Responses should be sent to contact@amf-france.org
At the same time, the AMF has amended its decision1 (in French only) on liquidity agreements as an accepted market practice in order to extend these arrangements to Alternext. The amended decision and the charter of good practice prepared by the Association Française des Marchés Financiers (AMAFI), on which this practice is based, are posted on the AMF website.
1The decision of 1 October 2008 repealed the decision of 22 November 2008
ANNEX: WORKING GROUP PARTICIPANTS
Chairmanbr Jean-Pierre Pinatton, Member of the AMF BoardMembers
Eric Berlizon (Züblin)Alexis Bouchet-Chatelard (Clasquin)
Marc Bidou (Maximiles)
Martine Charbonnier (NYSE Euronext)
Thierry Charron (PWC)
Philippe d'Hoir (Fidal)
Sylvie Dariosecq (AMAFI)
Philippe de Lieuvin (1000 Mercis)
Christian Finan (Bryan Garnier)
Eric Forest (Oddo)
Evelyne Galiatsatos (Allegra Finance)
Pierre-Franck Moley (Le Public Système)
Christian Poyau (Micropole-Univers)
Nicolas Stoop (Medef)
Antoine Valdes (Alto Invest)
Caroline Weber (Middlenext)
Government commissioners
Gabrielle d'ArailhEmmanuel Lacresse
Observer
Philippe Faure (Banque de France)Rapporteurs
Patrice Aguesse, AMFMaryline Dutreuil-Boulignac, AMF
