Our Primary Markets Monitoring (PMM) team monitors the market on a real-time basis to make sure it operates smoothly. This includes actively monitoring regulatory information services, media, other forums and price movements.
The PMM team makes sure that:
- issuers are complying with their disclosure obligations under the Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR) on an ongoing basis
- any issues are addressed as soon as possible
When we make contact with issuers
If we see unconfirmed media speculation that could indicate a leak of inside information under UK MAR, market rumours and/or an unexplained significant share price movement, we may follow this up.
We do this by contacting the issuer or its advisors as soon as possible to discuss the issuer’s disclosure obligations. This could include asking whether the speculation is true, and if so whether it constitutes a leak of inside information.
We may also ask the issuer to provide its analysis of whether it's currently in possession of inside information (as defined under article 7 of UK MAR) and whether it's currently delaying disclosure of inside information under article 17 of UK MAR.
Our enquiries can occur before or after the market opens, or during its operation.
How we make contact
Who we contact will depend on the nature of the issue, any previous cases we have dealt with, or who we are able to get in touch with at that time.
In all cases, we would first verify that the person we have contacted is authorised to respond to us on behalf of the issuer.
First point of contact details
Under the UK Listing Rules (UKLR), a listed company must ensure that the FCA is provided with up-to-date contact details of at least one appropriate person nominated by it to act as the first point of contact with the FCA in relation to the company’s compliance with the listing rules, the disclosure requirements and the transparency rules (see UKLR 6.2.19R (including as applied by UKLR 11.4.1R), UKLR 12.3.6R, UKLR 13.3.11R, UKLR 14.3.8R (including as applied by UKLR 15.3.1R), UKLR 16.3.7R and UKLR 22.2.8R, as applicable).
A listed company with a listing in the equity shares (commercial companies) category or the closed-ended investment funds category should consider UKLR 6.2.20G when nominating a person.
All persons nominated should be:
- contactable on business days between 7am and 7pm
- knowledgeable about the listed company and the listing rules applicable to it
- capable of ensuring that appropriate action is taken on a timely basis.
Providing issuer contact details
Issuers or those acting on their behalf must complete the Issuer contact details form[1] to provide the FCA with contact details as required in the UKLR.