Market soundings: the interaction between securities regulation and company law in the United Kingdom and Italy

Main author: Mucciarelli, Federico
Other authors: Lombardo, Stefano
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-30367
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Before deciding on operations involving share issuance or sale, companies or shareholders may seek to disclose information to selected investors, in order to gauge their opinion on the envisaged market operation. Despite such “market soundings” risk violating the prohibition of insider trading, selective disclosures have been partially accepted in several European jurisdictions. Market soundings have been eventually regulated in the MAR, which clarifies under which circumstances they are allowed and the position of the involved parties. This article analyses the rules on market soundings in the MAR with regard to issuance in the secondary market and accelerated bookbuildings. In this context, the question arises of whether harmonised rules on market soundings are compatible with national company law regimes. To address this issue, it will be assessed how Italian and English company law regimes react towards selective disclosures. It will be shown that a tension may still exist between uniform rules on market abuses and national company law rules, mostly with regard to directors’ duties and liabilities.
format Journal Article
author Mucciarelli, Federico
author_facet Mucciarelli, Federico
Lombardo, Stefano
authorStr Mucciarelli, Federico
author_letter Mucciarelli, Federico
author2 Lombardo, Stefano
author2Str Lombardo, Stefano
title Market soundings: the interaction between securities regulation and company law in the United Kingdom and Italy
publisher De Gruyter
publishDate 2019
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30367/