The Securities Trading Act requires that all such notices, announcements etc. that are distributed to or made available to the general public by an issuer must be submitted to Oslo Børs in advance in order for Oslo Børs to decide whether the documents need to be reviewed before publication.
Oslo Børs takes the view that the prospectus itself should be the principal marketing material for offers to subscribe for/purchase shares. Any promotion of such an offer over and above the announcement of the prospectus that is required by legislation should therefore be of a sober character and be intended to direct potential investors to the prospectus itself. Announcements and any other marketing material must not create an unduly favourable picture of the offer or the securities in question, and it must be clear that they are advertisements.
Oslo Børs has recently published a new Circular (No. 4/2004) in this respect, available on the Oslo Børs home page www.oslobors.no/ob/sirkulaere2?languageID=1 The guidelines apply to all forms of advertising, notices or announcements to the general public in respect of offers that require the production of a prospectus. The guidelines apply regardless of whether the notice or announcement is published in the printed media or on the internet, or broadcast by television or radio. The circular also applies to more direct forms of distribution, except where such distribution is to a specifically limited category of recipients.
