It's very easy. All countries (except Somalia) regulate their markets. For example in the US if there are more than 500 investors in your company you are required to disclose certain information (I read about that regarding Facebook: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/facebook-and-the-500-...)
In the EU companies are required to disclose data about individuals to those individuals.
In both cases what happened was that policymakers tried to work against a (potential) market failure they (fore)saw.
>All countries (except Somalia) regulate their markets.
if you know anybody who's worked in Somalia, you'd know about regulations there. It is just a little bit faster and less traditional when cease-and-desist is delivered using AK-47, and regulations change frequently as one "General" is replaced by another.
In the EU companies are required to disclose data about individuals to those individuals.
In both cases what happened was that policymakers tried to work against a (potential) market failure they (fore)saw.