LEGAL ALERT

New Transparency Obligations for Issuers of Securities in Albania

WHAT CHANGED

Law No. 80/2026 applies to issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in Albania or an EU Member State, subject to specified exclusions. Annual financial reports are due within four months of year-end and first-half reports within three months; both must remain public for at least ten years.

Shareholders must notify voting-rights holdings when they reach, exceed or fall below 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 50% or 75%. Domestic disclosure and central-storage duties apply from entry into force, while specified ESMA, ESAP and EU-cooperation provisions await EU accession.

WHO IS AFFECTED

Issuers of securities admitted to trading in Albania, their major shareholders, and any person crossing a notifiable holding threshold. Also relevant to advisers on capital raising and to companies contemplating the Sh.a. form with a view to a future offering.

This is a new statute rather than an amendment, so obligations may fall on issuers that previously had none.

WHAT TO DO

• Identify whether any client is an issuer within the statute's scope, and from what date.
• Establish the reporting calendar — annual and half-yearly deadlines and the format required.
• Identify the notifiable holding thresholds and put a monitoring process in place for shareholders approaching them.
• Watch for the implementing regulation from the supervisory authority, which will carry the operational detail.