Too Much Information? An Assessment of the European Commission’s Proposal for Changes to Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulation
(2023) JAEM01 20231Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- Article 17(1) of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) mandates that an issuer shall publicly disclose “inside information” which directly concerns the issuer as soon as possible, with the concept of “inside information” defined in art. 7 of MAR. This obligation is often referred to as the ad hoc disclosure requirement and it‘s perhaps the most crucial obligation issuers have to comply with when their financial instruments have been admitted to trading on a regulated market.
However, assessing what constitutes “inside information” and should be disclosed has proved demanding for issuers and has garnered considerable legal debate over the years. The critique has sprung not least because the opaque concepts of art. 7 of MAR (and previous... (More) - Article 17(1) of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) mandates that an issuer shall publicly disclose “inside information” which directly concerns the issuer as soon as possible, with the concept of “inside information” defined in art. 7 of MAR. This obligation is often referred to as the ad hoc disclosure requirement and it‘s perhaps the most crucial obligation issuers have to comply with when their financial instruments have been admitted to trading on a regulated market.
However, assessing what constitutes “inside information” and should be disclosed has proved demanding for issuers and has garnered considerable legal debate over the years. The critique has sprung not least because the opaque concepts of art. 7 of MAR (and previous legislation) are exposed to interpretation and has specifically concerned the question of when to publish information on intermediate steps in protracted processes, which include, inter alia, mergers and takeovers.
In December 2022, the European Commission put forward a legislative proposal which
would, if adopted, fundamentally change the ad hoc disclosure requirement by, among other things, adding a sentence to art. 17(1) of MAR explicitly stating that the requirement to inform the public as soon as possible “shall not apply to intermediate steps in a protracted process”. The suggested changes also involve empowering the Commission to adopt a delegated act to set out a non-exhaustive list of information and the timing of disclosure of such information. According to the Commission, the suggested changes are meant to enhance legal certainty for issuers and investors without sacrificing market integrity.
The thesis finds that the proposed changes will bring clarity and consistent application to the ad hoc disclosure requirement in art. 17 of MAR, and will therefore bring legal certainty for issuers and market participants. The thesis also finds that the suggested changes don‘t seem to harm the requirements of equal access to accurate information and the elimination of market abuse activities. Consequently, the thesis finds that the suggested changes will achieve their objectives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9131580
- author
- Gudmundsson, Sigurdur LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JAEM01 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Securities Market Law. Financial Instruments. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). Legislative Proposal.
- language
- English
- id
- 9131580
- date added to LUP
- 2023-07-10 10:54:37
- date last changed
- 2023-07-10 10:54:37
@misc{9131580,
abstract = {{Article 17(1) of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) mandates that an issuer shall publicly disclose “inside information” which directly concerns the issuer as soon as possible, with the concept of “inside information” defined in art. 7 of MAR. This obligation is often referred to as the ad hoc disclosure requirement and it‘s perhaps the most crucial obligation issuers have to comply with when their financial instruments have been admitted to trading on a regulated market.
However, assessing what constitutes “inside information” and should be disclosed has proved demanding for issuers and has garnered considerable legal debate over the years. The critique has sprung not least because the opaque concepts of art. 7 of MAR (and previous legislation) are exposed to interpretation and has specifically concerned the question of when to publish information on intermediate steps in protracted processes, which include, inter alia, mergers and takeovers.
In December 2022, the European Commission put forward a legislative proposal which
would, if adopted, fundamentally change the ad hoc disclosure requirement by, among other things, adding a sentence to art. 17(1) of MAR explicitly stating that the requirement to inform the public as soon as possible “shall not apply to intermediate steps in a protracted process”. The suggested changes also involve empowering the Commission to adopt a delegated act to set out a non-exhaustive list of information and the timing of disclosure of such information. According to the Commission, the suggested changes are meant to enhance legal certainty for issuers and investors without sacrificing market integrity.
The thesis finds that the proposed changes will bring clarity and consistent application to the ad hoc disclosure requirement in art. 17 of MAR, and will therefore bring legal certainty for issuers and market participants. The thesis also finds that the suggested changes don‘t seem to harm the requirements of equal access to accurate information and the elimination of market abuse activities. Consequently, the thesis finds that the suggested changes will achieve their objectives.}},
author = {{Gudmundsson, Sigurdur}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Too Much Information? An Assessment of the European Commission’s Proposal for Changes to Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulation}},
year = {{2023}},
}