Part III Prospectus Liability and Litigation, 24 The Netherlands

Subject(s):

Prospectus liability — Misleading statements

This chapter discusses Dutch law. The history of the present statutory rules on prospectus liability in the Netherlands dates back to 1928, the year in which Dutch corporate law was codified. Like the annual report which companies had to publish on a yearly basis, the Dutch legislator considered the prospectus as a corporate document and therefore was of the opinion that a statutory rule on prospectus liability should be issued together with the Companies Act. Codification of prospectus liability was effectuated by formulating it as a special category of tort in the Dutch Civil Code (DCC). The act of 1928 provided that managing and supervisory directors of the issuer would be jointly and severally liable with the issuer itself for misleading statements in the prospectus. This had to do with the view of the legislator — that the decision of investors to invest in a company was to a large extent based on the reputation of management. As a result of this joint and several liability of directors, the first Dutch legislation on prospectus liability can be considered as being particularly investor friendly.