Not much time is left until the application of the new rules on reporting by public companies to become a reality. On 3 July, the entire Regulation of the European Parliament and Council no. 596/2014 on market abuse (MAR) will be in force. Most issuers seem to be ready for this, but does the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) demonstrate the same readiness?
The MAR provides for new solutions, which involves not only the responsibility of the issuers of their application but also forces the legislators and the PFSA to act. Issuers are still waiting for the entry into force of amendments to the act on trading and act on offers, and at least on the draft Regulation of the Minister of Finance on current and periodic information.
It would be good if the website of the PFSA provided something more for the issuer than the MAR, guidelines of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and materials from seminars which, apart from a couple of suggestions for individual regulations, do not contain anything that would assist issuers in assessing the PFSA’s approach to new solutions. At the time of such huge legal transformations, the PFSA’s role in this process appears to be crucial. For example, by visiting the British counterpart of the PFSA – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – we are pleasantly surprised by the already implemented solutions to the MAR to the British legal system. In browsing through the solutions proposed by one of the most stringent regulators in the world, we cannot be sure, however, whether the PFSA will look at the problem in the same way. Additionally, FCA launched a hotline which can be called by anyone interested, to find out something more about the implemented regulations. The website of the British authority is bursting with interpretations, patterns and explanations related to the more problematic issues, and there are many concerns, as with any regulation created outside the legal system.