New ASX rules for continuous disclosure

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has changed the rules around continuous disclosure, to make it clearer when companies need to disclose market-senstitive information. Some have warned that the change could lead to companies abusing trading halts to disclose information to the market.

However, ASX group executive and chief compliance officer Kevin Lewis said the new guidelines strike “the right balance between the needs of companies for compliance certainty and those of investors for timely, meaningful disclosure”.

Responding to criticism, he said a large increase in trading halts was unlikely. “Might we see a bump? Yes. But I don’t think we are going to see the floodgates open.”

The purpose of the new guidelines was to clear up the legal and corporate confusion around the responsibilities of companies to report sensitive information to the markets.

The new guidelines and further information can be found here.