The Prevention of Financial Markets Abuse Act is currently the subject of minor amendments as proposed in the draft legislation entitled ‘Various Financial Services Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012.
The suggested amendments specifically provide for collaboration between the MFSA and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), for the purposes of the Market Abuse Directive in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 24 November 2010, and in particular to forward to ESMA, without delay, all information necessary for ESMA to carry out its duties in terms of the Regulation.
An amendment relating to the publication of sanctions is also proposed to provide that the MFSA may publicly disclose the name of a person who is sanctioned, the particular breach, and the administrative sanction imposed, even prior to appeal proceedings being concluded. The MFSA is to contemporaneously report to the ESMA the fact that it has disclosed an administrative measure or sanction to the public. The MFSA is to also provide ESMA annually with aggregated information regarding all administrative measures and sanctions it has imposed.