HM Treasury are asking for comments on the preliminary draft of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Market Abuse) Regulations 2016 to be submitted before 4 February 2016. This draft is only available from HM Treasury on request. The draft Regulations (which will be subject to further policy and legal review and amendment before being finalized) make a number of proposed amendments to FSMA and other primary and secondary legislation, and provide clarification for the purposes of implementation of the Market Abuse Regulation in a number of areas.
The preliminary draft of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Market Abuse) Regulations 2016 include provisions which:
- Clarify who falls within the meaning of "persons closely associated" with persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMRs");
- Delete all references to "disclosure rules" in Part 6 of FSMA;
- Delete provisions of FSMA which include the definition of the offense of market abuse, the behaviors that constitute market abuse, the definition of what constitutes an "insider" and what constitutes "insider information" and the requirement for the FCA to produce a code giving guidance to those determining whether or not behavior amounts to market abuse;
- Give the FCA various powers to require information from issuers, PDMRs and people associated with PDMRs for the purposes of protecting investors, the orderly functioning of the markets and to exercise its functions under the Market Abuse Regulations ("MAR");
- Include administrative powers for the FCA, including the power to require an issuer to publish specific information or a specific statement where it considers this necessary; the power, subject to certain conditions, to require publication of a corrective statement, correcting false or misleading information made public or a false or misleading impression given to the public, by a person; and the power to suspend trading in financial instruments in certain circumstances; and
- Empower the FCA to impose penalties or issue censure for contravention of the provisions of MAR or contravention of the information requirements.
The FCA's consultation webpage can be accessed at:
http://www.fca.org.uk/news/cp15-35-implementing-market-abuse-regulation
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.