Joint Consob/Bank of Italy press releases of 25 July 2022 - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
Memorandum of understanding between Consob and the Bank of Italy:
delay in the public disclosure of inside information
The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (Consob) and The Bank of Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and cooperation concerning the authorization procedures for the delay in the public disclosure of inside information, pursuant to article no. 17, paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR).
Said Regulation provides that, with the purpose to preserve the stability of the financial system, an issuer with securities listed on a regulated market or traded on a multilateral trading facility (a bank or other supervised financial institution) may delay, under the its responsibility, the public disclosure of inside information as well as, for example, information related to a temporary liquidity problem.
In such circumstances, the delay can be authorized by Consob if all the following conditions are met:
a) the disclosure of privileged information involves the risk of compromising the financial stability of the issuer and the financial system;
b) the delay in communication is in the public interest;
c) the confidential nature of the information can be guaranteed.
For the purpose of issuing the authorization, Consob requests an opinion from the Bank of Italy. The protocol signed today concerns, in particular, the methods, timing and contents of the interactions aimed at issuing to Consob the opinion of the Bank of Italy on the risk that the disclosure of privileged information may entail for the stability of the issuer and the financial system, as well as on the existence of the public interest in the delay.
The document can be consulted on the websites of both Authorities at www.consob.it. and www.bancaditalia.it.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Consob and Bank of Italy
on financial benchmarks
The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (Consob) and the Bank of Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to define the framework of collaboration and information exchange between the two Authorities with relation to their participation to the European supervisory reference bodies on financial indices (benchmarks), which are considered as critical pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 (so-called Benchmark Regulation).
The protocol also defines the ways in which Consob and the Bank of Italy will collaborate with the competent EU Authorities regarding critical benchmarks administrators.
The document is available on the websites of Consob and the Bank of Italy, at www.consob.it and www.bancaditalia.it, respectively.
Pursuant to the Benchmark Regulation, the relevant indices for financial stability as well as for the integrity of the markets are critical reference indices, with possible negative effects on the real economy, households and businesses.
The Article no. 4-septies.1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF) indicates Consob as the competent Authority over benchmark administrators and indicates Consob and the Bank of Italy as the competent Authorities on data contributors who are subject to their respective supervision for the purpose of participating in the bodies on the critical benchmarks, as provided for by the Benchmark Regulation.