Disclosure of inside information in an effective manner
Inside information must be disclosed in a timely manner and in a manner ensuring that it is capable of being disseminated to as wide a public as possible. This is why ACER believes that the disclosure of inside information through platforms has its merits. As regards disclosing inside information effectively, ACER currently proposes the following mechanisms:
- platforms for the disclosure of inside information operated by transmission system operators (e.g. RTE-UFE transparency initiative) or energy exchanges (e.g. EEX Transparency Platform), or transparency platforms in accordance with Regulations 714/2009 and 715/2009, including guidelines and network codes adopted pursuant to those Regulations and including Regulation 543/2013;
- if adequate transparency platforms do not yet exist, market participants may also publish inside information which they possess on their company website. Market participants may also publish inside information simultaneously on both an adequate transparency platform and their company website. Social media should only be used as additional sources not replacing website publications.
ACER considers that effective disclosure is only deemed to exist where the following minimum quality requirements are met:
- inside information is disclosed to the public on a non-discriminatory basis and free of charge;
- inside information is made available via an RSS feed specific for the disclosure of inside information, allowing easy and fast access by the public;
- inside information is kept available for the public for a period of at least 2 years;
- the information is published in the official language(s) of the relevant member state and in English or in English only;
- minimal unavailability consistent with market expectations is ensured;
- effective administrative arrangements designed to prevent conflicts of interest with market participants are ensured (applicable only for platforms).
While market participants are responsible for the disclosure of inside information, ACER understands that they do not have influence on the operation of platforms. Therefore, ACER believes that market participants are not responsible for temporary technical problems of such platforms fulfilling the above-mentioned minimum quality requirements. If the information was transmitted to the platform in time and there were temporary technical problems, the market participant should therefore not be charged for having breached the obligation to disclose inside information. If technical problems persist, however, market participants have to use other platforms or their own website instead.
Regardless of whether the information is published on a transparency platform or on the market participant’s website, the publication should contain the following information:
| Caption: “Publication according to Article 4(1) REMIT – Urgent Market Message” |
| A subject heading that summarises the main content of the publication |
| The time and date of the publication |
| The time and date of the relevant incident |
| If applicable, the name and location of the asset concerned |
| If applicable, the market area concerned |
| If applicable, the affected capacity of the asset concerned |
| If applicable, the available capacity of the asset concerned |
| If applicable, the fuel concerned |
| If applicable, the estimated time at which the assets concerned will be partly/or wholly available again |
| If applicable, the reasons for the unavailability of the asset concerned. If the reason(s) for the unavailability is/are not known, regular updates should be provided until the reason(s) is/are confirmed. |
| If applicable, a history of prior publications regarding the same event, e.g. if a prognosis is updated or an unplanned outage becomes a planned outage. |
| Any other information necessary for the reader to understand the relevant information |
If the publication requires a prognosis, e.g. regarding the duration of an outage, such prognosis may contain an element of uncertainty. Therefore, ACER believes that market participants fulfil their publication requirements if the prognosis is based on all available data and has been prepared with reasonable effort. If a prognosis changes over time, the publication should be updated accordingly.
It is ACER’s understanding that the disclosure of inside information in an incomplete or incorrect manner would be considered as a non-effective disclosure and thus be in breach of Article 4(1) REMIT.
