Source: OJ L, 2024/2861, 13.11.2024Current language: EN
Article 3 Notification of delayed disclosure of inside information
Summary What does Article 3 of the ITS on insider information disclosure say?
This article sets out the procedural and technical requirements that issuers, offerors, and persons seeking admission to trading must follow when they choose to delay the public disclosure of inside information, a possibility permitted under Article 88(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.
It operates as a companion to that parent provision by specifying exactly how a delay must be documented, stored, and communicated to competent authorities.
The article covers three interconnected obligations: maintaining a detailed record of the delay in a durable medium, notifying the competent authority through prescribed electronic means, and ensuring that any written explanation provided — whether proactively or upon request — contains a defined set of information.
Competent authorities are also given a corresponding obligation to publish the contact points and electronic means through which notifications must be submitted.
Important points:
- Maintain records of the delay decision in a durable medium, covering key timestamps, the functions of responsible persons, evidence that the conditions for delay were met, and any information barriers put in place to preserve confidentiality.
- Transmit a written notification of the delay to the competent authority using the electronic means it specifies, including identity details of those responsible for the decision.
- Competent authorities are required to publish on their website the dedicated contact point and electronic means for receiving these notifications, which must preserve the completeness, integrity, and confidentiality of the information during transmission.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
For the purpose of delaying the public disclosure of inside information in accordance with Article 88(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, issuers, offerors and persons seeking admission to trading shall use technical means that ensure the accessibility, readability, and maintenance in a durable medium of all of the following information:
the dates and times when:
the inside information first existed within the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading;
the decision to delay the disclosure of inside information was made;
the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading is likely to disclose the inside information;
the positions/functions of the persons within the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading that is responsible for:
making the decision to delay the disclosure of the inside information and deciding about the start of the delay and its likely end;
ensuring the on-going monitoring of the conditions for the delay of the disclosure of the inside information;
deciding about the disclosure of the inside information;
providing to the competent authority the information about the delay and the written explanation;
evidence of the initial fulfilment of the conditions laid down in in Article 88(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, and of any change in that fulfilment during the delay period, including:
the information barriers which have been put in place internally and with regard to third parties to prevent access to inside information by persons other than those who require it for the normal exercise of their employment, profession, or duties within the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading;
the arrangements put in place where the confidentiality of the inside information is no longer ensured.
For the purposes of this paragraph 1, ‘durable medium’ shall mean any instrument which enables the storage of information in a way that is accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored.
Issuers, offerors and persons seeking admission to trading shall transmit to the competent authority a written notification of delay in the disclosure of inside information and a written explanation of such delay through a dedicated contact point within, or designated by, the competent authority, and using the electronic means specified by the competent authority. Such notification shall also include the identity and contact details of person(s) referred to in paragraph 1(b).
Competent authorities shall publish on their website the dedicated contact point within, or designed by, the competent authority and the electronic means referred to in the previous subparagraph. Those electronic means shall ensure that completeness, integrity and confidentiality of the information are maintained during the transmission.
The electronic means referred to in paragraph 1 shall ensure that the notification of a delay in the disclosure of inside information includes the following information:
the identity of the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading, including the full legal name, where applicable;
the identity of the person making the notification, including his or her name, surname, and position within the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading;
the contact point regarding the notification, including his or her professional email address and phone number;
identification of the publicly disclosed inside information that was subject to the delayed disclosure, including the title of the disclosure statement, the reference number where the dissemination system used assigns one, and the date and time of the public disclosure of the inside information;
the date and time of the decision to delay the disclosure of the inside information;
the functions of the persons responsible for the decision to delay the public disclosure of the inside information.
Where the written explanation of a delay in the disclosure of inside information is provided only upon request of the competent authority in accordance with Article 88(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the electronic means referred to in paragraph 1 shall ensure that such written explanation includes the information referred to in paragraph 2. Such notification shall also include the identity and contact details of person(s) referred to in paragraph 1(b) and 2(b) and (e).
Relevant recitals
Recital 6 Identify dissemination contacts for competent authorities
In order to enable competent authorities to carry out expediently any necessary reviews or investigations linked to dissemination of inside information or possible market abuse cases and to ensure that, where needed, competent authorities may rapidly contact persons in charge of the dissemination of inside information, it is necessary that such persons within the issuer, offerors and persons seeking admission to trading for crypto-assets are identified with information on their name, surname and position within the relevant entity.
Recital 7 Record key data when delaying disclosure
To ensure that issuers, offerors, and persons seeking admission to trading are able to comply with their obligation to inform their competent authorities that the disclosure of the inside information is delayed, as laid down in Article 88(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the technical means for delaying the public disclosure of inside information should ensure that key information about the process for delaying the disclosure of the inside information is recorded.
Recital 8 Notify authority via secure electronic means
To ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the inside information, and the speed of its transmission, issuers, offerors, or persons seeking admission to trading should inform their competent authority about the delay of the disclosure of the inside information and, where required, explain how all the applicable conditions for the delay were met, in writing and by using the secure electronic means specified by their competent authority.
Recital 9 Provide decision-makers’ identities and delay duration
Competent authorities should be able to efficiently conduct investigations on possible market abuse cases. In order to do so, it is necessary that to enable competent authorities to identify within the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading the persons that are dealing with the delay of disclosure of inside information without requesting that information to the relevant entity. Hence, the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading should provide their competent authority with the identity of the person who informed the competent authority about the delay of the disclosure of the inside information, and of the person or persons that decided to delay that disclosure. To enable competent authorities to assess whether the conditions laid down in Article 88(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 are met, the issuer, the offeror, or the person seeking admission to trading should also inform their competent authority about of the duration of the delay.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
placing of crypto-assets
Definition
official currency
Definition
distributed ledger
Definition
reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
Definition
exchange of crypto-assets for funds
Definition
consensus mechanism
Definition
operation of a trading platform for crypto-assets
Definition
e-money token
Definition
crypto-asset service
- providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
- operation of a trading platform for crypto-assets;
- exchange of crypto-assets for funds;
- exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets;
- execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
- placing of crypto-assets;
- reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
- providing advice on crypto-assets;
- providing portfolio management on crypto-assets;
- providing transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
Definition
offer to the public
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providing advice on crypto-assets
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offeror
Definition
execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
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crypto-asset service provider
Definition
crypto-asset
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DLT network node
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funds
Definition
client
Definition
asset-referenced token
Definition
issuer
Definition
exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets
Definition
electronic money token
Definition
providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients
Definition
providing transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
Definition
distributed ledger technology
Definition
competent authority
- designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 93 concerning offerors, persons seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, or crypto-asset service providers;
- designated by each Member State for the application of Directive 2009/110/EC concerning issuers of e-money tokens;