European securities regulators on Thursday launched a consultation on draft guidelines to accompany new rules designed to combat abusive trading.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a consultation paper on draft guidelines for the implementation of new rules, known as the market abuse regulation, which aims to strengthen the existing regulatory framework by extending it to new markets, platforms and trading behaviours. The rules also contain prohibitions for insider dealing and market manipulation, and provisions to prevent and detect these sorts of abuses.
The guidelines focus on the application of the new regime to industry personnel that receive information designed to gauge investor interest in a possible transaction, the regulator says in a statement. They also clarify what constitutes inside information, and when brokers and others are considered to be in possession of inside information, among other things.
The guidelines aim to address when issuers can legitimately delay the disclosure of inside information, and to clarify when delays are likely to mislead the public.
ESMA hopes to publish a final report by early in the third quarter. The new market abuse rules will take effect in July. ESMA is also preparing a consultation paper on another set of guidelines dealing with the application of the new rules to commodity derivatives.