DTR 2.7 Dealing with rumours

Where there is press speculation or market rumour regarding an issuer, the issuer should assess whether a disclosure obligation arises under DTR 2.2.1 R. To do this an issuer will need to carefully assess whether the speculation or rumour has given rise to a situation where the issuer has inside information.

1. (1)

   Where press speculation or a market rumour is largely accurate and the information underlying the rumour is inside information then it is likely that the issuer can no longer delay disclosure in accordance with DTR 2.5.1 R as it is no longer able to ensure the confidentiality of the inside information.

2. (2)

   An issuer that finds itself in the circumstances described in paragraph (1) should disclose the inside information in accordance with DTR 2.6.2 R as soon as possible.

The knowledge that press speculation or market rumour is false is not likely to amount to inside information. Even if it does amount to inside information, the FSA expects that in most of those cases an issuer would be able to delay disclosure (often indefinitely) in accordance with DTR 2.5.1 R.