FCA announces the end of their temporary Covid measures

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Although the effects of Covid-19 are still being felt, the FCA considers that issuers and their advisors have now adjusted to implications arising from the pandemic and so are now able to return to previous practices and methods of publishing appropriate financial information to support investor decision-making.

The FCA will therefore be withdrawing the temporary measures introduced during the pandemic from 28 June 2022, including the extended filing deadlines and easements around working capital statements and general meetings that were put in place to assist companies raising new share capital. These include the following measures, that were introduced for certain issuers to help ensure the quality of reporting was not compromised due to issues arising during the pandemic:

• the temporary extension for publication of annual audited financial report to six months from year end (withdrawn for reporting periods ending on or after 28 June 2022);
• the temporary extension for publication of half yearly financial report to four months (withdrawn for reporting periods ending on or after 28 June 2022);
• the temporary permission for issuers, under certain circumstances, to disclose their key assumptions on business disruption without requiring the inclusion of a qualified working capital statement is withdrawn after 28 June 2022; and
• the temporary possibility to apply for dispensation from the need to hold a general meeting on a case by case basis with regards to Class 1 transactions and Related party transactions is withdrawn from 28 June 2022. The FCA highlight the joint guidance issued by the Chartered Governance Institute and the City of London Law Society (CLLS) with the support of BEIS and the FRC which aims to help public companies plan for an AGM or other General Meeting.

FCA Primary Markets Bulletin 39

Published 31 March, 2022