Preparing yourself for a takeover? Then watch out because the Financial Reporting Review Panel is not happy with some companies’ failure to fulfil reporting duties under legislation governing acquisitions.

The FRRP said it had ‘identified a small number of publicly traded companies that have not provided the new disclosures required by the Takeover Directive’.

The regulator is concerned that with a large batch of companies preparing December 2007 annual reports, there is a risk that there could be more such oversights.

The new rules compel companies to reveal details of investors with a significant shareholding in a company and people with shareholders that come packaged with special voting rights. If directors have powers over the issuing or buying back of a company’s shares those powers need to be declared too.

The reminder is couched as a friendly nudge in the right direction, but if the FRRP doesn’t like what it sees it has the power to seek a court order forcing companies to amend their public documents.