14 March 2012
The Financial Markets Authority will publish a revised draft of
its guidance note by 2 April 2012 and invites further submissions
from the market.
The first round of market consultation, completed 9 March,
consisted of 30 stakeholder meetings. FMA also received over 60
written submissions and is now reviewing and carefully considering
all feedback.
FMA CEO Sean Hughes said "We are impressed with the quality and
depth of submissions received and considered to date. I think it's
important to acknowledge the considerable care and time commitment
undertaken by market participants and consumer groups involved in
the consultation process.
"The revised guidance note will benefit from the feedback we've
received and will be markedly different to the first draft.
"We are looking for further market engagement as we release this
next draft of the disclosure guidelines, which will build on many
of the constructive suggestions we received. We would encourage the
market to help identify the remaining 'big picture' issues.
"FMA's aim is to work with the market to achieve positive changes
in disclosure practices. To that end, the guidance note needs to be
based on a strong understanding of market fundamentals and
commercial realities."
As a compliance tool, the guidance note seeks to assist issuers by
signalling FMA's expectations and what it will look at as part of a
review of disclosure documents.
"We are not out to hang people who are trying in good faith to get
it right and exercise appropriate diligence" Mr Hughes said.
FMA will continue to work with the market after release of the
final guidance note, to improve the standard of disclosure and to
explain the disclosure practices that work well and those that
don't.
Consistent with the timeline signalled from early 2011, FMA will no
longer be pre vetting all disclosure documents. However, it will be
inviting issuers of large, novel, or potentially complex offers to
engage with FMA from an early stage in the
preparations.
Timeline:
Revised draft published week commencing 2 April.
Submissions invited on the revised draft with a close date of
Tuesday 1 May.
Final guidance note published end of May.
The compliance date for new and existing offer documents is to be
confirmed after consideration of all submissions.
Further Background
Further background can be found in
FMA's January 26 release.
Original consultation and guidance note here.
Ends
Contact:
Nick Stride on 09 985 4868 or 021 739 052
Or
Diane Maxwell on 029 200 8194