FINANCIAL SERVICES: REGULATORS SUGGEST DIFFERENT RULES FOR SMALLER COMPANIES.

"Some CESR members thought that the costs of providing financial data for three years imposed an unreasonable burden on ", says the consultation paper, which was published on October 16.

Europe's stock exchanges have not yet had a chance to take a proper look at the proposals laid out in the consultation paper, but the initial feeling is that the 64-page document may be a little too comprehensive for the rapidly-approaching deadlines.

The deadline for all submissions on the consultation paper is December 31, with a view to the creation of a single securities market by 2003. The CESR will hold an open hearing on the paper in Paris on November 26 to discuss its proposals.

The consultation document is available on the CESR website, at: http://www.europefesco.org/DOCUMENTS/CONSULTATIVE/02-185b.pdf.

--A prospectus is a disclosure document, containing key financial and non-financial information, that a company makes available to potential investors when it is issuing securities (stocks, bonds...