Brussels, 03/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - Without discussion on Tuesday, the Ecofin Council adopted the directive on insider dealing and market manipulation. It took on board five amendments that Parliament adopted in October. The directive defines the transactions that may lead to market abuse, introduces obligations of transparency and makes Member States designate a regulatory and surveillance administrative authority.
It will apply to all financial instruments admitted to negotiations on at least one regulated market in the European Union, including primary markets. It will apply to all operations concerning these instruments on regulated markets (stock exchange) and non-regulated markets. Following consultation, Parliament and the Council had found a common wording concerning insider dealing that could be committed by journalists, the most controversial aspect of the text. The legislators agreed that only journalists having deliberately or negligently published false information and who gained a financial profit may be prosecuted.
This is the first text adopted in the framework of the "Lamfalussy procedure", intended to accelerate the legislative process concerning securities. According to this procedure, the European Commission should next year take "enforcement measures" for the directive, under the control of the European Parliament and the European Securities Committee composed of experts from Member States.
Commissioner Frits Bolkestein welcomed the Council's decision, stressing that Parliament and the Council had thus "given a clear signal: we shall tolerate no fraud nor market manipulation, of any sort or in any form on the European capitals markets". This decision should contribute to restoring confidence in the markets.