Does an email regarding an insider list and a trading ban amount to inside information?

Introduction

In the world of European financial markets, inside information plays a central role in the Market Abuse Regulation (“MAR”). It constitutes the basis for both the issuer’s disclosure obligations and the prohibition on inside trading, whilst also regulating the unlawful disclosure of inside information pursuant to Article 10 of the MAR.¹ Article 7(1)(a) of the MAR defines it as:

“information of a precise nature, which has not been made public, relating, directly or indirectly, to one or more issuers or to one or more financial instruments, and which, if it were made public, would be likely to have a significant effect on the prices of those financial instruments or on the price of related derivative financial instruments”