On Jun. 11, FCA proposed technical note on disclosure delay.
- Follows ESMA Oct. 2016 MAR guidelines on allowed disclosure delay.
FCA Consultation
- Held discussion with a range of stakeholders on issue of identifying and handling
inside information during the preparation of the entity's periodic financial reports. - Proposed update note UKLA/TN/506.1 on periodic reports, and inside information.
Proposals
- Follow ESMA guide on delayed disclosure of inside information, per MAR Art. 17(4).
- Guidelines give example of legitimate interests that are likely to be prejudiced by
immediate disclosure of information, situation where delay likely to mislead public. - Examples are non-exhaustive, and a national regulator can give further guidance.
FCA Example
- In proposal, FCA gave example of legitimate interest of an issuer which may exist.
- This includes when issuer is in the process of preparing a periodic financial report.
- FCA does not think issuers should assume that this interest will always be present.
- By its nature, this legitimate interest is limited to the situations in which the inside information emerges as part of the process of preparing a periodic financial report.
- Issuers should assess the existence or otherwise, of legitimate interest which may
be prejudiced by the immediate disclosure of inside information on ongoing basis. - Issuers who choose to delay disclosure of information do so on own responsibility.
Effectiveness
- Comments are to be sent, by Jul. 23, 2018, before the guidance is finalized.
