The Financial Conduct Authority is proposing to amend its guidance on when an issuer can legitimately delay disclosure of inside information. It is proposing to remove the last sentence in DTR 2.5.5G in order to clarify that issuers may have a legitimate reason to delay disclosure in circumstances other than the non-exhaustive examples set out in DTR 2.5.3R or the circumstances described in DTR 2.5.5AR. However, some issuers have warned that by removing the sentence without providing further guidance on the FCA’s expectations about when disclosure may be legitimately delayed may in fact create further uncertainty. It is for this reason that the FCA is consulting on its proposed change.
The consultation paper sets out the FCA’s proposals which it believes will maintain the integrity of the regime and are consistent with the Market Abuse Directive and the Market Abuse Regulation, which comes into effect in the UK from July 2016.
The consultation ends on 20 February 2016.