Recent FCA publications

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Primary Market Bulletin 31 (PMB 31), and through it publicised two recent reviews it has undertaken into delayed disclosure of inside information and corporate governance disclosures by listed issuers.

Delayed disclosure of inside information

The FCA has reviewed the delayed disclosure of inside information notifications (DDIINs) it has received. Under Article 17(4) of Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), where a UK issuer delays disclosure of inside information, once it announces that information it must notify the FCA that it has been delaying its disclosure.

The FCA notes that only one quarter of issuers have submitted a DDIIN at all, leaving it concerned that issuers may not be aware of the requirement to submit them. It also identifies a number of areas where it will increase its oversight, including:

• Unscheduled financial information – The FCA was surprised that the delays associated with disclosing unscheduled financial information were longer than those relating to periodic financial information, as it is more challenging to establish circumstances in which it is legitimate to delay unscheduled financial information. It also notes that it has only received a low number of DDIINs in this area, when compared with the number of unscheduled trading statements issued.
• Director/board changes – The FCA was also surprised at the number of DDINs it received in relation to director/board changes, given that it is not specified in the (non-exhaustive) situations in the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidelines on legitimate interests for delay where an issuer may have a legitimate interest in delaying disclosure.

Corporate governance disclosures

Following a review of a sample of annual reports from 2016-2018, the FCA makes a number of observations and suggestions in relation to compliance with the FCA rules relating to corporate governance, including:

• Compliance with the Principles of the Governance Code – The FCA encourages premium listed issuers to consider carefully, when stating how they have applied the Principles of the Governance Code as required under Listing Rule 9, whether they have done so in a way that enables shareholders to evaluate how the Principles have been applied (rather than merely stating they have been). To avoid boilerplate disclosures, more examples and cross-references to other parts of the annual report could be included.
• Board diversity reporting – Overall the FCA felt the quality of board diversity reporting could have been better, particularly in relation to Governance Code Provision 23 (work of the nomination committee), and Principles J (board appointment processes) and L (annual board evaluation).
• Standard listed companies – A number of standard listed companies provided little or no information on their internal control and risk management systems, and management bodies and committees (as required by DTRs 7.2.5 and 7.2.7). The FCA also noted that a number of standard listed issuers state that they have applied the Provisions of the Governance Code "as far as relevant" without providing any further detail (which does not meet the requirements of DTR 7.2.3).

Extension of relaxations to deadlines for financial reporting

In response to the difficulties being faced by listed companies as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, earlier this year the FCA published statements which, in effect, give listed companies an additional two months to publish their annual report and accounts (to within six months of their year-end) and an additional one month to publish their half-yearly reports (to within four months after the end of the half-year). In PMB 31 the FCA confirms that this temporary relief will, at a minimum, continue to be available to listed companies with financial periods ending before April 2021.