Clifford Samuel, chief counsel for corporate and securities at BAE Systems, recently set out why the Market Abuse Regulation and the disclosure of price-sensitive information are vitally important for IR professionals to understand.
At the IR Magazine Conference – UK & Ireland, held at the London Stock Exchange at the end of October, he said: ‘The Market Abuse Regulation is important to the IR community, not least because it changes the rules relating to the disclosure of inside information, including the content of the disclosure announcement itself.’
Within this, Samuel noted the need to have the correct procedures in place. ‘It is now necessary to isolate and record the particular time and date when inside information crystallizes and, in the limited circumstances permissible, when a decision is taken to delay making an immediate announcement,’ he said.
To achieve this, brokers should play their part, a new approach for many companies, he added: ‘Companies are likely to need to speak to their brokers more often than they have in the past to ensure compliance – indeed, brokers are expecting this to happen.’
