Recital 1

(1)Directive 2004/109/EC establishes the general principles for the harmonisation of transparency requirements in respect of the holding of voting rights or financial instruments that result in an entitlement to acquire existing shares with voting rights. It seeks to ensure that, through the disclosure of accurate, comprehensive and timely information about security issuers, investor confidence is built up and sustained. By the same token, by requiring issuers to be informed of movements affecting major holdings in companies, it seeks to ensure that the latter are in a position to keep the public informed.