On the 4th of December 2024, the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) published a Circular addressed to all market participants falling within the scope of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse (“MAR”). The Circular outlines amendments to the MFSA’s Prevention of Financial Markets Abuse Rules following the publication of the EU Listing Act Package in the Official Journal of the European Union on the 14th of November 2024.
The Listing Act Package includes, inter alia:
- the Listing Act Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/2811) and,
- the Listing Act Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/2809) – which amends the Prospectus Regulation and the MAR among others.
One of the key changes introduced by the Listing Act Regulation relates to the thresholds under Article 19 of MAR governing the notification of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities (“PDMRs”) and persons closely associated with them (“PCAs”).
The previous position was that PDMRs were required to notify the issuer and the Competent Authority when transactions reached a total amount of €5,000 within a calendar year. The Listing Act Regulation has raised the notification threshold to €20,000 whilst granting national competent authorities the discretion to either increase such threshold to €50,000 or decrease it to €10,000, based on local market conditions.
In Malta, the MFSA has exercised its discretion to increase the reporting threshold for PDMRs from €5,000 to €10,000. This revised threshold is reflected in Rule R3-3.3 of Section 3 of Title 3 of the Prevention of Financial Markets Abuse Rules and came into effect on the 4th of December 2024.
For a full list of MFSA Circulars, click here.
This document does not purport to give legal, financial or tax advice. Should you require further information or legal assistance, please do not hesitate to contact info@mamotcv.com