Commission Guidance and Revisions to the Cross-Border Tender Offer, Exchange Offer, Rights Offerings, and Business Combination Rules and Beneficial Ownership Reporting Rules for Certain Foreign Institutions

Almost nine years after the adoption of the original cross- border exemptions in 1999, the Commission is adopting changes to expand and enhance the utility of these exemptions for business combination transactions and rights offerings and to encourage offerors and issuers to permit U.S. security holders to participate in these transactions on the same terms as other target security holders. Many of the rule changes we are adopting today codify existing interpretive positions and exemptive orders in the cross-border area. We also are setting forth interpretive guidance on several topics. In two instances, we have extended the rule changes adopted here to apply to acquisitions of U.S. companies as well, because we believe the rationale for the changes in those instances applies equally to acquisitions of domestic and foreign companies. We also are adopting changes to allow certain foreign institutions to file on Schedule 13G to the same extent as would be permitted for their U.S. counterparts, where specified conditions are satisfied. We also are adopting a conforming change to Rule 16a-1(a)(1) to include the foreign institutions eligible to file on Schedule 13G.