Insider dealing and money laundering etc. Amendments to the Market Abuse Regulation
The EU MAR is an EU regulation which came into effect on 3 July 2016, repealing and replacing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on insider dealing and market manipulation (market abuse). The EU MAR broadened the scope of instruments covered by the market abuse framework, strengthening in particular the regime for commodity and related derivative markets. It explicitly bans the manipulation of benchmarks (such as the LIBOR) and reinforces the investigative and sanctioning powers of regulators.
	Following the end of the Transition Period the EU Regulation forms part of retained EU law, by operation of the EUWA . The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/310) deliver the necessary amendments to ensure that the EU Regulation continues to function appropriately and effectively following the end of the Transition Period. The EU Regulation as amended and forming part of retained EU law is referred to as the Market Abuse Regulation (‘MAR’).
	The Act makes amendments to MAR. These mirror some of the changes the EU has made in EU Regulation (EU) 2019/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Directive 2014/65/EU and Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 and (EU) 2017/1129 as regards the promotion of the use of SME growth markets (known as the SME Growth Markets Regulation ). The relevant changes took effect in EU law on 1 January 2021.
	Article 18 of MAR contains the requirements on the preparation and maintenance of insider lists. The Act amends Article 18 to make clear that both issuers and any person acting on their behalf or on their account (such as advisers) are required to maintain their own insider lists.
	Article 19 of MAR regulates transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and those closely associated with them. The Act amends Article 19 to change the deadline by which issuers have to publicly disclose such transactions. The deadline will now be two working days after those transactions have been notified to the issuer, rather than three business days after the transaction itself.