Dáil debates

Tuesday, 7 February 2006

 

Proposed Legislation.

3:00 pm

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

No, I do not agree with the Deputy. I have referred the case to the company law review group to seek advice on specific points raised in the judgment. Over recent years, EU legislation has been adopted in all the areas mentioned, a number of which were originally covered by my Department. One of the features of the radically new and robust legislation is that member states are no longer permitted to designate market operators or stock exchanges as competent authorities and, therefore, the competent authority must be an administrative authority independent of all market participants.

The following is the current position on new EU legislation. The prospectus directive was transposed into Irish law on 1 July 2005; the new market abuse directive was transposed on 6 July 2005, with a number of provisions coming into effect on 1 October 2005; and a new ongoing disclosure obligation under the transparency directive is due for transposition by January 2007. IFSRA has been designated as the competent authority for the purposes of the new prospectus and market abuse directives and it will also be designated as the competent authority in respect of the transparency directive.

Overall political responsibility for the Stock Exchange rests with the Minister for Finance under the Stock Exchange Act 1995 which provides for the regulation of stock exchanges and their members. The Act provides the Financial Regulator with substantial powers in the initial authorisation of Stock Exchange members and their ongoing supervision.

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