OBJECTIVES: This study identified risk factors associated with stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease (IHD) or unstable angina (UA) in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients with no recent history of CV events and adequate glycemic control (HbA≤8.0%). METHODS: Data were obtained from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink for the period of January 1990 to December 2012. A nested case-control design was used and survival analyses were conducted. The primary outcomes measures were mortality, stroke, MI, IHD or UA within 5 years after the index date (earliest date when HbA≤8.0% was reached after T2DM diagnosis). For each outcome, Cox proportional hazards models were built using a backward selection procedure with p>0.05 as the exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Of the 350,138 newly diagnosed T2DM patients, 11,426 met the criteria for cases and 70,725 for controls in this study. In the case cohort 5,261 patients experienced CV events, with stroke being most frequent event (18.62%), followed by IHD (13.35%), MI (10.15%), and UA (3.93%). Prior to their first CV event, patients with a mean HbAof 7.0-8.0% (vs. <6.0%) were at an increased risk for stroke, IHD, MI, and UA. Antiplatelet use and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index at baseline were associated with an increased risk of stroke and IHD.  Male gender, older age, and increasing number of antihyperglycemic medications at baseline were associated with an increased risk of stroke, IHD, and MI.  Nitrate use was associated with an increased risk of IHD, MI, and UA. Statin use was associated with reduced risk of stroke. More recent index year was associated with a reduced risk of stroke, IHD, and MI.  CONCLUSIONS: Changes in primary prevention of CV disease occurring over time is associated with reduced risk of CV events in T2DM patients.