3. The time limit referred to in paragraph 2 shall be extended to 20 working days if the public offer involves securities issued by an issuer which does not have any securities admitted to trading on a regulated market and who has not previously offered securities to the public.

(l) "securities issued in a continuous or repeated manner" means issues on tap or at least two separate issues of securities of a similar type and/or class over a period of 12 months;

12. in Article 23(1), the words "and money market instruments" shall be added after the words "transferable securities";

On the other hand, many issuers were hesitant, suggesting a graduated approach based on the size of the issuer and the risk linked to the type of security concerned.

This means that banks and financial operators who are not resident in OECD countries, are all excluded to qualify for exemption from the notification, EU Member States' public securities must comply with the "standard" characteristics set in the supervisory regulations of the Bank of Italy which impose different controls on foreign banks than domestic banks.

These represent: . in the banking area, 93.3% of world assets held by credit institutions (both domestic and foreign assets), and 95.1% of assets held by banks in GATS member countries (a total of 22 trillion US $); 93.7% of world bank deposits, and 95.4% of deposits with banks in GATS member countries (a total of more than 20 trillion US $); in addition, 97% of the world international lending; . in the insurance area, 91.8% of world insurance premiums and 95.6% of total premiums perceived in GATS member countries, representing a business of over 1.3 trillion US $ a year; . in the securities area, 89.1% of world equity trading (4.5 trillion US $), 94.7% of world stock market capitalisation (10.5 trillion US $), 89.9% of new equity raised, 97.7% ...[+++]of market value of bonds listed in stock exchanges (7.9 trillion US $), and 93.8% of world bond turnover in stock exchanges.