EC Omnibus IV proposal to reduce burdens for small mid-cap companies

The European Commission has published its Omnibus IV legislative proposal, together with a press release, for a Directive amending the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and the Critical Entities Resilience Directive to simplify various administrative requirements for small mid-cap enterprises (SMCs), in line with the mitigating measures already available for SMEs. SMEs are currently defined as companies with under 250 employees and an annual turnover of up to EUR50 million or a balance sheet total up to EUR43m, while SMCs are those that have outgrown the SME definition. The proposed amendments will simplify regulatory requirements and reduce administrative burdens for SMCs, in the interests of helping them to scale up.

The legislative proposal represents the fourth Omnibus simplification package, following Omnibus I and II on the simplification of sustainability reporting and due diligence rules, and Omnibus III on the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Omnibus IV proposals include: (i) the introduction of a new category of SMCs to capture enterprises that are up to three times the size of SMEs; (ii) simplified compliance obligations for SMCs, permitting them to provide product information in digital format; (iii) common specifications for companies to demonstrate compliance with EU rules in the absence of harmonised standards; and (iv) a simplification of record-keeping requirements in the General Data Protection Regulation.

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