ESMA objects to European Commission’s proposed amendments on its draft ITS on insider lists
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU securities regulator, today publishes two Opinions regarding the amendments proposed by the European Commission (EC) to the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on liquidity contracts for SME Growth Market (GM) issuers and the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on insider lists initially adopted by ESMA in October 2020.
As regards the ITS on insider lists, ESMA disagrees with the EC’s proposal to exempt SME GM issuers from the obligation to create different sections of the insider list for each piece of inside information and with the deletion of personal phone numbers from these insider lists, which would render market abuse investigations more difficult.
ESMA agrees with the two additions proposed by the EC to the RTS on liquidity contracts for SME GM issuers, whereby liquidity providers would have to post orders at prices that follow the independent trading interest and would not be obliged to post buy/sell orders in exceptional circumstances.
Next Steps
Following the adoption of these Opinions, the EC may adopt the ITS and the RTS with the amendments it considers relevant or reject them. The European Parliament and the Council may object to the RTS adopted by the EC within a period of three-months.
Further information:
Dan Nacu-Manole
Communications Officer
✆ +33 (0)1 58 36 52 06