Should issuers be allowed to include additional elements in the annual and half yearly financial reports, other than those required in articles 4 and 5 of the Transparency Directive?

Question a: Is the obligation to make regulated information (as defined in Article 2(1)(k) of the TD) public fulfilled if the issuer only discloses the regulated information to the public in a manner ensuring fast access to such information on a non-discriminatory basis, or must the issuer also disseminate the information throughout the Community?

Question b: Does making the regulated information available to the official appointment mechanism (OAM) meet the criteria of making regulated information public?

According to Article 21(3) of the Transparency Directive (TD), the host Member State (MS) shall ensure disclosure of regulated information in accordance with Article 21(1) of the TD if the securities are only admitted to trading in the host MS. In this case the disclosure of the regulated information will be done under the legal regime of the host MS. Article 19(1) of the TD demands that an issuer who discloses regulated information files that information with the Competent Authority (CA) in its home MS. Since the home MS necessarily differs from the host MS (cf. to Art. 2(1)(i) and (j) of the TD) the CA of the host MS may not know that the issuer is required to disclose/has disclosed certain information and which particular information has to be disclosed/has been disclosed. How can the CA of the host MS ensure that the issuers fulfill their obligations in these cases?

Many issuers use service providers for the dissemination of regulated information. In some Member States, these service providers are required to be approved by the competent authority, whereas in other Member States such authorisation is not required.

Article 12 of the L2D sets the minimum standards for the dissemination of regulated information in order to “ensure that investors, even if situated in a Member State other than that of the issuer, have equal access to regulated information” (first sentence of recital 16 of the L2D). Pursuant to Article 12(4) of the L2D “the issuer (…) shall not be responsible for systemic errors or shortcomings in the media to which the regulated information has been communicated.”

When the issuer uses a service provider for dissemination of regulated information, will the service provider be covered by the definition of media? If not, what kind of recovery procedures for system failures should a service provider have in order to ensure the dissemination of regulated information in a manner ensuring fast access to such information on a non-discriminatory basis as required by article 21(1) of the TD?

What type of issuers should prepare reports on payments to governments according to Article 6?