The AMF Enforcement Committee imposed a fine on a former manager of a listed company for two violations: failing to disclose inside information to the public as soon as possible under Article 17 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), and failing to disclose major shareholdings as required by French regulations. This enforcement action underscores the AMF's strict enforcement of market abuse rules, emphasizing personal accountability for executives in ensuring timely transparency to prevent insider trading risks and maintain market integrity. Compliance teams should review it as a reminder of heightened scrutiny on disclosure delays and threshold crossings.
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What Changed
This is not a regulatory change but an enforcement decision reinforcing existing obligations under MAR and AMF General Regulation:
Inside information disclosure: Issuers must publicly disclose inside information "as soon as possible" per Article 17 MAR, unless specific delay conditions are met (legitimate interest, confidentiality ensured, no public misleading). Delays require post-publication notification to AMF at differepublication@amf-france.org.
Major shareholdings disclosure: Persons cross
What You Need To Do
- Assess information promptly
- Declare major shareholdings immediately upon threshold crossing to issuer/AMF; ensure custodians comply with identity disclosure requests
- Use professional information providers for dissemination to ensure wide, secure EU reach; archive on company website
- Train executives on insider lists, transaction reporting (within 3 days if >โฌ20k/year), and penalties (up to โฌ100m fines, criminal sanctions)
Key Dates
3 trading days - Managers/PDMRs must report securities transactions to issuer and AMF if annual total exceeds โฌ20,000. DEADLINE
10 business days - Custodians must respond to Euroclear France/AMF requests for shareholder identity on threshold crossings. DEADLINE
effective 2016 ) and AMF GR.
Compliance Impact
Urgency: High - This matters due to personal fines on managers, signaling AMF's aggressive enforcement of MAR since 2016, with rebuttable presumptions against executives for insider misconduct unless proven otherwise. Firms face reputational risk, investigations, and cascading liabilities (e.g., โฌ10