Market Abuse: Zip Your Lip!

In March 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave a preliminary ruling¹ in yet another case about the unlawful disclosure of inside information – this time by a journalist (Mr A) who informed some sources about a story he was going to publish in a prominent British newspaper regarding two takeover bids which were rumoured to be launched over the next few weeks. The Financial Markets Authority in France deemed Mr A's disclosure to be unlawful and imposed a financial penalty of €40,000. Mr A subsequently appealed the decision and the Parisian Court of Appeal asked the ECJ for a preliminary ruling on a number of points.

Before analysing the court's preliminary ruling, it is worth mentioning that the court was not asked to look into whether the publication of the articles themselves constituted an unlawful disclosure of inside information. Rather, the case revolved around Mr A's disclosure of the forthcoming publication of the articles (before they were actually