Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related services, today announced that its Pricing and Reference Data business will offer a new data service to help its customers comply with the disclosure rules which form part of the EU Transparency Directive that came into force in January 2007.
The Transparency Directive aims to enhance transparency in European Union (EU) capital markets for the purpose of improving investor protection and market efficiency. It seeks to accomplish this by establishing rules for the disclosure of periodic financial reports and of major shareholdings for companies whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in the EU.
The directive also requires more frequent disclosure of changes to major shareholdings within stricter disclosure deadlines. Issuers are required to disclose the total number of voting rights and capital for each class of shares that they issue at the end of each month in which a change in capital structure has occurred.
Interactive Data's new service can help customers identify the number of potential votes per share of a UK listed company. The service covers UK issuers by SEDOL® and includes 'Total Voting', as well as 'Home Member State' information. The service will be available as an optional module of FTSSM, Interactive Data's online portfolio administration service.
Roger Sargeant, managing director, Interactive Data (Europe) Ltd, said: "We are pleased to provide this new data offering, which is one more element of our strategy to supply a wide range of data and services to help customers comply with the obligations of recent and new directives and regulations. We look to work with the industry in order to provide our customers with flexible offerings that can seamlessly integrate into their workflow."