Corporate fines: turnover is falling
Preliminary approval has been granted to the decree transposing the Listing Act Regulation. Consob’s powers have been revised: for seizures and searches, authorisation must come from a judge, not the public prosecutor
Key points
The Consolidated Law on Finance is being brought into line with EU regulations on market abuse. It also revises the mechanism and amount of penalties for the main infringements. On Thursday 2 July, the Council of Ministers approved, at first reading, the legislative decree bringing national legislation into line with EU Regulation 2024/2809.
What’s new
The main new feature of the regulation Listing Act regarding sanctions is that the new rules provide, in certain cases, that Member States may impose fixed-amount administrative penalties on legal persons only where the amount calculated on the basis of turnover is disproportionate to the circumstances of the offence.
Article 187-ter.1 of the TUF has therefore been amended; where, with reference to the publication of inside information, a maximum penalty of at least 2 per cent of the responsible entity’s annual turnover is provided for. With particular reference to cases involving the publication of inside information, a statutory maximum fine of at least 2 per cent of the responsible entity’s annual turnover is provided for.
If the latter is too low in relation to the seriousness of the breach, Consob may impose an administrative penalty of at least 2,500,000 euros, or at least one million if the entity is an SME (as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC).
Insider lists and insider dealing
With regard to cases of infringements relating to insider lists and internal dealing, administrative fines ranging from €5,000 to 0.8% of turnover (up to €400,000 for SMEs), whilst for breaches relating to investment recommendations, the fine ranges from 5,000 to one million euros, or up to 0.8% of turnover.
