Monthly Archives: December 2015

Summary of the changes

On 26 November 2015, the UK completed the implementation of the Transparency Directive Amending Directive.  This has entailed amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and to the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTRs).  Key changes include:

• a new power for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to apply to court for an order suspending the voting rights of shares, for serious breach of the major shareholdings notifications regime;
• a requirement for the FCA to publish information on the type and nature of breaches of the transparency regime, together with the identity of the person sanctioned, subject to a discretion to publish anonymously in certain circumstances;
• extending the deadline for publishing half-yearly financial reports from two to three months after the end of the reporting period;
• increasing the period during which half-yearly financial reports must remain publicly available from five to ten years;
• a new exemption from the notification obligations for voting rights attached to shares that have been acquired for stabilisation purposes; and
• removing the exemption for stock lending, so that it must be disclosed by both lender and borrower at the 5%, 10% and higher thresholds required by the Transparency Directive.

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