On 24 March 2023, HM Treasury and the FCA issued a statement providing an update on the criminal market abuse regime (the regime). In the Economic Crime Plan 2019-22, the government and FCA committed to jointly reviewing the regime within the wider context of the Future Regulatory Framework (FRF) Review. The statement provides that the … Continue Reading
On 20 March 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a letter, addressed to the European Parliament and Council, raising concerns over proposed changes to the insider list regime in the Market Abuse Regulation. The proposed changes, put forward by the European Commission (Commission) in December 2022 as part of the Listings Act … Continue Reading
Demonstrating its continuing focus on preventing, detecting and punishing market abuse, on 25th January 2023, the FCA announced that it has commenced criminal proceedings against five individuals, alleging that they conspired to commit offences of insider dealing between December 2019 and March 2021. In addition to insider dealing, the five individuals are charged with money … Continue Reading
On 11 January 2023, the FCA published Market Watch 72. In this Market Watch, the FCA outlines their recent findings on the quality of service provided by Approved Publication Arrangements and Approved Reporting Mechanisms, collectively known as Data Reporting Services Providers (DRSPs), to clients who use a DRSP to meet their MiFID II regulatory reporting … Continue Reading
On 13 December 2022, the FCA published Market Watch 71. In Market Watch 71, the FCA shares their observations about changes in advisory firms’ insider lists since the publication of Market Watch 60. The FCA also reminds firms of the requirement within UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR) to include personal information in insider lists, … Continue Reading
On 18 October 2022, the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that they are strengthening their cooperation to further improve information exchange and avoid potential market abuse in Europe’s spot and derivative markets. Henceforth, ACER and ESMA have announced the following: New joint … Continue Reading
On 18 October 2022, there was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1959 of 13 July 2022 supplementing the Market Abuse Regulation with regards to regulatory technical standards setting out a contractual template for liquidity contracts for the shares of issuers whose financial instruments are admitted to … Continue Reading
The FCA has recently fined Sir Christopher Gent, former non-executive Chairman of a global medical products and technologies company (the Company), £80,000 for the unlawful disclosure of inside information relating to the Company in contravention of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR). The published decision contains a number of key takeaways in relation to … Continue Reading
On 3 October 2022, the FCA published Market Watch 70. Market Watch is the FCA’s newsletter on market conduct and transaction reporting issues. In this issue the FCA outlines some of its recent observations on the transaction reporting and instrument reference data regimes. Key points in this issue of Market Watch include: National identifiers. The … Continue Reading
On 23 September 2022, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated their Q&As on the Market Abuse Regulation. The following have been updated under the section concerning the disclosure of inside information: 5.11 Financial guidance and disclosure of inside information. 5.12 Market analysts’ expectations and the identification of inside information.… Continue Reading
On 14 July 2022, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1210 of 13 July 2022 laying down implementing technical standards for the application of the Market Abuse Regulation with regard to the format of insider lists and their updates. The Implementing Regulation enters into force on … Continue Reading
On 13 July 2022, the European Commission published a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) with regard to regulatory technical standards (RTS) setting out a contractual template for liquidity contracts for the shares of issuers whose financial instruments are admitted to trading on an SME growth market together with an annex. The RTS … Continue Reading
On 23 June 2022, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). The ESMA has added a new answer concerning the scope of Article 11(1a) of the MAR. Specifically, the answer covers whether the scope of Article 11(1a) is limited to the communication of information to potential … Continue Reading
On 17 June 2022, in response to recent reports about their approach to market abuse and manipulation, the FCA published a new webpage providing an update on its work in this area. The webpage describes the FCA’s data-led approach plus its use of criminal and civil enforcement tools. Key points on the webpage include: Data: … Continue Reading
On 17 May 2022, the FCA published the latest edition of Market Watch, its newsletter on market conduct and transaction reporting issues. In Market Watch 69 the FCA covers firms’ arrangements for market abuse surveillance, drawing on its observations from engaging with small and medium sized firms. The FCA states that whilst the topics covered … Continue Reading
On 3 May 2022, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued two opinions regarding the European Commission’s proposed amendments to the regulatory technical standards (RTS) on liquidity contracts for SME Growth Market issuers and the implementing technical standards (ITS) on insider lists. The draft RTS and ITS were initially adopted by the ESMA in … Continue Reading
On 25 April 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage on the UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR). The FCA has updated the text under the heading ‘Managers’ transactions’ which concerns Article 19 UK MAR which requires persons discharging managerial responsibilities within certain issuers (PDMRs), and persons closely associated with them (PCAs), to … Continue Reading
On 13 April 2022, there was published the official translations of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s guidelines concerning delay in the disclosure of inside information and interactions with prudential supervision. The official translations can be accessed on this link and then click the blue ‘i’ in the ‘Info’ column. The guidelines apply 2 months … Continue Reading
On 31 March 2022, the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) published an updated version of its Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM) and its Annex II. The update follows a five month consultation and the amendments provide guidance on the reporting of transactions related to the transportation of natural gas, which … Continue Reading
On 23 March 2022, Ofgem announced that it was implementing the changes to its REMIT Procedural Guidelines and REMIT Penalties Statement that it consulted on last year. This includes the decision to remove the middle and late settlement windows, and to allow the director with responsibility for enforcement to make decisions in settlement cases. The … Continue Reading
The events in Ukraine are having a significant impact on financial markets. In the UK, the FCA recently issued a statement reminding issuers of securities admitted to UK trading venues of their disclosure obligations under the UK Market Abuse Regulation. More widely, the FCA will be keeping a close eye on market conduct during this … Continue Reading
On 3 March 2022, the FCA issued a statement on its website concerning events in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia, reminding issuers of securities admitted to UK trading venues of their disclosure obligations under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). The statement goes on to remind companies in scope of MAR that they … Continue Reading
On 24 February 2022, the FCA published a new webpage concerning the number of suspicious transaction and order reports (STORs) that were received during 2021. In total 4,871 STORs were made in 2021, 4,233 for insider dealing and 638 for market manipulation. In 2020 the FCA received 4,239 STORs (3,553 for insider dealing and 680 … Continue Reading
