On 1 November 2004, the Executive Committee of the Admission Board issued a reprimand with publication against Adecco S.A. (Adecco). Adecco lodged an appeal with the Disciplinary Commission, which confirmed that a breach had occurred and issued a reprimand with publication. The decision then entered into force.
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday, 9 January 2004, Adecco inadvertently sent an e-mail to two persons not associated with the company. The e-mail contained passages that allowed conclusions to be drawn regarding a price-sensitive fact. Adecco was able to stop the potential information leak and maintain confidentiality until the end of trading. A media release was issued before start of trading on 12 January 2004, the next trading day. This media release, which announced that the publication of the annual results for 2003 would have to be postponed, is the subject of the proceedings against Adecco.
Under the Listing Rules, the publication of potentially price-sensitive facts is permissible if the issuer can ensure complete confidentiality (Art. 72 para 3 LR). If an issuer postpones publication, it must ensure that publication takes place immediately if a leak occurs (see ref. no.11 of Circular No. 2). Immediate publication is only possible if a media release or alternative media releases are prepared in good time. If an issuer fails to prepare sufficiently a media release or alternative media releases to be issued in the event of an information leak in connection with postponed publication, it cannot ensure immediate notification as required under Art. 72 LR.
In December, there was a growing possibility that Adecco might postpone the publication of its annual results due to US accounting issues, and on 23 December it postponed its final decision to 9 January 2004. Until that date, the competent bodies did not have a leak contingency plan in place which could immediately have been used, which means that the company breached the duty to prepare for immediate publication of information pursuant to Art. 72 para 2 LR, a duty which arises when publication is postponed.
Previous sanctions of the SWX are available at http://www.swx.com/admission/being_public/sanctions_en.html
