The EU has issued revised guidelines for the Transparency Directive outlining new reporting requirements, including revisions to quarterly financial reporting.

European commissioner Michel Barnier welcomed the latest agreement on the revised Transparency Directive that looks set to usher in a more open and long-termist approach to business.

The new rules will come into force this August, following approval by the European parliament and the EU Council on 12 June. An EU spokesperson said: 'The amendment to the directive will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) in July and 20 days later it will enter into force. Member states will have room to make some adjustments, but companies will be obliged to follow the regulations with immediate effect'.Barnier said the move would empower listed companies, including small and medium-sized businesses, to 'no longer be obliged to publish quarterly financial information', leading to a smaller 'administrative burden' which 'should help to discourage short-termism on financial markets'.

He said: 'I welcome this significant new advance in our efforts to make European companies more responsible and transparent.

'The revised Transparency Directive will prevent investors from secretly building up a controlling stake in a listed company (hidden ownership). Investors will now need to notify all financial instruments that have the same economic effect as holdings of shares.'

The agreement ensures that the disclosure requirements for the extractive and forestry industries, recently agreed in the Accounting Directive, will 'now apply to all companies of those sectors that are listed in the EU'.

The revised Transparency Directive marks the latest development in the evolution of transparency requirements for listed companies operating in the EU. In October 2011, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal that required issuers of securities traded on regulated markets within the EU to ensure appropriate transparency through a regular flow of information to the markets.

The new revision also closes a notification gap, whereby holdings of certain types of financial instruments that can be used to acquire economic interests in listed companies without acquiring shares, were not covered by existing disclosure rules.