Germany Moves For Greater Transparency

In an effort to achieve greater transparency in capital markets, the German cabinet has approved legislation that would lower the threshold at which a company must report its stake in a company from 5% to 3%, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The law, which corresponds to the European Union’s transparency directive, also calls for additional reporting milestones. Currently, shareholders report once they reach a 10%, 25%, 50% and 75% stake; the bill calls for reporting at 15%, 20% and 30% as well. In addition, the bill, which will come before the two houses of parliament for a vote later this year, reportedly is a response to the growing presence of hedge funds as investors in German companies.