FCA consults about delaying disclosure of inside information

The FCA has issued a consultation on amendments it proposes to make to the Disclosure and Transparency Rules section of the FCA Handbook. The FCA proposes to make these amendments to make the FCA Handbook consistent with ESMA's guidelines on delay in the disclosure of inside information.

On 28 November 2016, the FCA published consultation paper CP16/38 setting out proposals to amend DTR 2.5 (delaying disclosure of inside information). The amendments will make DTR 2.5 consistent with the ESMA guidelines ESMA/2016/1478.

The ESMA guidelines set out a non-exhaustive list of legitimate interests of issuers for delaying the disclosure of inside information.  The guidelines also list situations in which the delay of disclosure of inside information is likely to mislead the public.

The FCA has notified ESMA of its intention to comply with the ESMA guidelines (the FCA has also indicated that it will comply with ESMA guidelines on market soundings (ESMA/2016/1477)).

In amending DTR 2.5, the FCA is proposing to follow the approach it has previously used when implementing the Market Abuse Regulation. It proposes to delete FCA Handbook material that conflicts with or duplicates the ESMA guidelines and to cross-refer to the ESMA guidelines where appropriate. The FCA is proposing that within DTR 2.5 the reader will be signposted to the ESMA guidelines, which will ensure that if the list is added to in the future the handbook will not need to be amended.

The consultation closes on 6 January 2017.