Wft Market Abuse Directive

On 1 January 2009 certain provisions of the Transparency Directive (2007/14/EG) have been implemented in the Financial Supervision Act and the Decrees. The AFM is currently working on amending the information brochures and the relevant websites.

With effect from 1 September 2002, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten - AFM) has been supervising compliance with the Act on the Supervision of Collective Investment Schemes (Wtb).

The Market Abuse Directive was implemented in the Netherlands on 1 October 2005 in the Act on the Supervision of the Securities Trade [Wet toezicht effectenverkeer] 1995 and in the Market Abuse Decree [Besluit Marktmisbruik] (incorporated as of 1 January 2007 in the Wft 2006, section 5.4). The intention is to tighten the existing European system relating to market abuse, to expand it and partly to harmonise it in order to protect market integrity within Europe more effectively.

Following from the implementation of the Market Abuse Directive are, among others, an expansion of the prohibition against market manipulation and the transfer of the supervision of the publication of price-sensitive information by listed companies from Euronext Amsterdam (previously dictated by rule 28h of the Fondsenreglement) to the AFM. 

Additionally, a transparency regime for publicists of investment recommendations and a requirement for securities institutions to report a reasonable suspicion of trading with insider information or market manipulation (the so-called klikplicht) have been introduced. In closing, the existing provisions regarding trading with insider information, the reporting requirement for 'insiders' and the insider regulations are in part adapted with respect to the prior legislation.

• Brochures Market Abuse Act
• Legislation and regulations
• The most important changes following the new law
• Contact/questions

Here you will find contact information for the AFM.