According to a report on the Australasian Legal Business web site, the note from Australia’s stock exchange – which had the backing of the country’s Securities and Investment Commission – aims to emphasise ‘the need for entities to assess the impact that information will have on their share prices’ as well as the fact ‘that sudden and significant movements’ in market prices will trigger stock exchange enforcement powers relating to continuous disclosure obligations.

More questions

The report quoted a range of lawyers supporting the move. Tony Damian, a partner at the recently merged Anglo-Australian global firm Herbert Smith Freehills, described the measures as ‘very practical guidance’, adding: ‘There is a lot of detail and practical examples.’
In addition, Clayton Utz partner Geoff Hoffmann told the web site that the guidance ‘tries to address a lot of the uncertainties that were troubling the market.’ However, he also sounded a warning, saying: ‘No doubt ... there will be more questions which will require further guidance.’