Insider dealing

Results questionnaire 2017 about MAR 17 and MAR 19

At the end of April the AFM sent out a short questionnaire concerning some specific qualifications set out in the European Regulation no. 596/2014 on market abuse (hereinafter: MAR) by issuers listed on Euronext Amsterdam. Please view the link for the accompanying message. 95% of the addressed issuers answered the questionnaire. Hereby, the AFM provides general feedback concerning the responses received and draws attention to a number of related topics. We recommend applying these suggestions.

Qualification of information as inside information

Notification of delay

Recently, the AFM has noticed that a number of issuers have not indicated their delay of publication of inside information in the form with which they submit their press release to the AFM. The AFM requests parties to fill in the form correctly. The issuer itself remains responsible to publish inside information as soon as possible and correctly, as well as for the notification of the delay, even if the issuer uses a third party.

Use of website

• an easily identifiable section of the website for inside information; and
• the clear indication of not only the date, but also the time of the disclosure.

Examples of criteria for determining inside information

• To determine if there is any inside information directly related to the issuer, it may be useful to look at the degree of deviation from previous external communications (including strategy and outlook) and other publicly-known information (such as consensus estimates).
• To determine whether information may have a significant effect on the price, it may be relevant to determine whether and, if so, how the market has reacted in the past to similar information from your company and / or competitors.
• Information related to, for example, a supplier or customer may also fall within the scope of inside information, for example, if the result of that information relates directly to the issuer and the information would likely have a significant impact on the prospects (and thereby on the price).

The definition of ‘person discharging managerial responsibilities’ (or PDMR)

1. The person is not a member of the administrative, management of supervisory body of that entity;
2. Has regular access to inside information relating directly or indirectly to that entity; and
3. Has power to take managerial decisions affecting the future developments and business prospects of that entity. 

Notification
The issuer is required to notify the PDMRs within their organisation of their obligations under Article 19 MAR in writing. In addition, the issuer must draw up a list of PDMRs and persons closely associated with them.

Discretionary management

The PDMR has to take into account that, with the arrival of MAR, transactions that have been carried out under a discretionary management agreement must also be reported. The exemption that existed in the Netherlands until 3 July 2016 is no longer recognised. The fact that it concerns a transaction undertaken by another person on their own discretion on behalf of the PDMR can be indicated at number 4b of the notification form concerning the nature of the transaction.