Due to increased volatility on the financial markets in 2020 triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, ESMA decided to temporarily lower the reporting threshold of 0.2 % to 0.1 %, effective from 16 March 2020. The temporarily lowered reporting threshold of 0.1 % was effective until 19 March 2021, after which the reporting threshold was set back to 0.2 %.
In 2020, Japan tightened foreign investment rules with the amendments to the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA). When the amendment entered into force on 7th June 2020, it expanded the scope of foreign investment reviews, lowered the threshold for screening the purchase of listed companies’ shares to acquisitions at 1 percent or more, and introduced a new prior notification exemption scheme for share acquisitions.
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently gave a speech at London City Week. During the speech, he discussed three key areas on the reform agenda at the SEC. One of those areas was on transparency, and in particular, the area of beneficial ownership and Schedule 13D reporting.
It’s been a busy couple of months for the Swedish Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) – so far in 2021, they have issued fines totaling SEK 20,390,500 (USD 2,462,174) for shareholder disclosure failings. With fines ranging from SEK 11,000 to SEK 5,100,000, as displayed in the graph below, non-compliance with Swedish disclosure requirements can be a costly affair.
This week, on the 1st February 2021, the Statutory Instrument (SI) amending the initial notification threshold under Article 5(2) of the Short Selling Regulation (SSR) entered into force. The SI amends the reporting of net short positions to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in relation to the issued share capital of a company that has shares admitted to trading on a trading venue, from 0.2% to 0.1%.
