EU Market Abuse Regulation - AG briefing
The EU Market Abuse Regulation (2014/596/EU) (MAR) seeks to enhance market integrity and investor protection and harmonises the regimes as regards market abuse across the EU. It comes into force on 3 July 2016 and will drive significant changes in practice for many market participants, including listed and AIM-quoted issuers, brokers and Nomads, particularly in relation to the systems and procedures needed to comply with the regime.
Our briefing focuses on the impact of MAR on issuers. While there remain significant questions to be answered about how aspects of the new regime will work in practice, to the extent preparations for certain aspects of it have not yet started, they should do so now. The briefing also contains links to various relevant EC Delegated and Implementing Regulations, some of which are now being issued in final form including:
- Commission Delegated Regulation ((EU) 2016/522 of 17 December 2015) which supplements MAR as regards various matters including trading by PDMR etc. during closed periods and transactions by PDMR etc. which should be notified to the market;
- Commission Implementing Regulation ((EU) 2016/347 of 10 March 2016) which includes the prescribed templates for insider lists and standards for updating them; and
- Commission Implementing Regulation ((EU) 2016/523 of 10 March 2016) which includes the prescribed templates for notifying PDMR etc. transactions.
We will provide further updates, particularly when the Financial Conduct Authority, which has been designated as the "competent authority" for MAR in the UK, provides a response to its MAR-related consultation (CP 15/35).
We will also be holding Company Secretaries' Forums in each of our UK offices in May on this topic. Invites will be issued shortly.
If you have any questions about how MAR will affect you and your company, please contact your usual contact at Addleshaw Goddard or any of those listed in the briefing.
