The Investment Recommendation (Media) Regulations 2005

PART 1 CITATION, INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Investment Recommendation (Media) Regulations 2005 and come into force on 1st July 2005.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“EEA State” means a State which is a contracting party to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 March 1992(1) as it has effect for the time being;

“financial instrument” means any of the instruments listed in Article 1(3) of Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 28 January 2003 on insider dealing and market manipulation(2) that are admitted to trading on a regulated market (as defined in article 1(13) of Council Directive 93/22/EEC(3) on investment services in the securities field) in an EEA State or for which a request for admission to trading on such a market has been made;

“investment recommendation” means information that directly recommends the buying, selling, subscribing for or the underwriting of a financial instrument or the exercise of any right conferred by such instrument to buy, sell, subscribe for or underwrite it; and

“media” means—

(a)

a newspaper, journal, magazine or other periodical publication;

(b)

a service consisting of the broadcast or transmission of television or radio programmes; or

(c)

a service (including the internet) comprising regularly updated news or information;

but excluding any such publication or service the principal purpose of which (taken as a whole and including any advertisements or other promotional material contained in it) is a purpose mentioned in article 54(1)(a) or (b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001(4).

Application of Regulations

3.—(1) These Regulations apply in respect of the production and the dissemination of an investment recommendation which the producer of that recommendation intends to be, or to become, publicly available in or through the media.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), any person whose business or profession is in the media and who, in the conduct of that business, or in the exercise of that profession, either–

(a) produces an investment recommendation, or

(b) disseminates an investment recommendation produced by a third party,

must do so in accordance with Parts 2 and 3; and references to a “person producing an investment recommendation” and to a “person disseminating an investment recommendation produced by a third party” are references respectively to such persons.

(3) These Regulations do not apply to—

(a) a person (being an authorised person within section 31 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000(5)) (“the Act”) producing an investment recommendation where such production by him is regulated pursuant to section 22 of the Act; and

(b) a person (being an authorised person within section 31 of the Act) disseminating an investment recommendation produced by a third party where such dissemination is regulated pursuant to section 22 of the Act.

(4) Parts 2 and 3 do not apply to the production and dissemination of an investment recommendation where —

(a) the media in or through which the recommendation appears is subject either to a self- regulatory code or to an appropriate system or procedure with respect to the presentation of investment recommendations and to the disclosure of financial interests and conflicts of interest, and

(b) the publication, programme or regularly updated news or information service in or through which the recommendation appears includes a clear and prominent reference to the relevant code, system or procedure.

(5) In paragraph (4)(a), a “self-regulatory code” means the Code of Practice issued by the Press Complaints Commission, the Producers' Guidelines issued by the British Broadcasting Corporation and any code published by the Office of Communications pursuant to section 324 of the Communications Act 2003(6).

(1)

OJ No. L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3.

(2)

OJ No. L 96, 12.4. 2003, p. 16.

(3)

OJ No. L 141, 11.6.1993, p. 27 as last amended by Directive 2000/64/EC (OJ L 290, 17.11.2000, p. 27).

(4)

S.I. 2001/544, amended by 2003/1475.

(5)

2000 c. 8.

(6)

2003 c. 21.