On 6 May 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation paper on the functioning of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Growth Market regime in the EU and on two draft technical standards, introduced by amendments to the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) for the promotion of the use of SME Growth Markets.

The consultation paper provides an assessment of the state of play of the SME Growth Market regime in the EU and seeks views on proposed amendments to the regime. The consultation paper also seeks views on suggested initiatives to improve the attractiveness of the SME Growth Market regime from issuers’, investors’ and venues’ perspectives. The consultation also presents ESMA’s proposal for draft regulatory technical standards on liquidity contracts and draft implementing technical standards specifying the format of the insider list.

The deadline for comments on the consultation is 15 July 2020. ESMA will develop the final reports under MiFID II and MAR, taking into consideration the feedback received to the consultation paper. ESMA intends to submit the MiFID II final report to the European Commission by the end of the year and the MAR final report in the autumn.