FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION: FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICES - 2019 EDITION

19 In accordance with the principle of consistency, if the issuer chooses to disclose indicators in addition to those based directly on its financial statements (i.e., alternative performance measures) or business segment information, such information must be consistent over time. Any changes that reflect changes in the issuer’s strategic focuses must be explained in all of the communication materials used 12 . 4  z DISSEMINATION OF ACCURATE, TRUE AND FAIR INFORMATION Information provided to the public by the issuers must be accurate, true and fair 13 . These requirements apply as much to regulatory disclosures as to information disclosed on a voluntary basis. The information must be accurate, true and fair at the date of its dissemination. Information provided to the public by the issuer must be accurate 13 , which means without errors, but also true and fair 13 , which means that the issuer must communicate, in a way that leaves no room for ambiguity, all of the details related to the event which is the subject of the communication to the market so that the market can evaluate the impact of the event and the outlook for the issuer. This requirement is linked to the requirement that information be complete: what distinguishes true information from accurate information is that accurate information may not be true if the issuer has omitted certain information that could have changed the perception of its situation by the market 14 . However, the sole provision of inaccurate information does not in itself constitute misconduct 15 . In accordance with articles 12 and 15 of the Market Abuse Regulation, which provide a basis for penalising deficiencies in the quality of information disclosed to the public, two additional elements are required in order to constitute misconduct: (I) the disputed information gives, or is likely to give, false or misleading signals as to the supply of, demand for, or price of a financial instrument, or fixes, or is likely to fix, the price of one or several financial instruments at an abnormal or artificial level, and (ii) the knowledge, whether proven or presumed, of the false or misleading nature of the disclosure. Information provided by the issuer must be fair 13 .The fairness of the information provided implies that both the positive and negative components related to the information under consideration are communicated.This is also linked to the principle of consistency described above. 12 – AMF Position no. 2015-12 on alternative performance measures and Questions and Answers on ESMA Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures, updated on October 30, 2017. 13 – Article 223-1 of the AMF General Regulations. See also article 47 of the Market Abuse Regulation. 14 – AMF Position/ Recommendation no. 2016‑08 – Guide to ongoing disclosures and the management of insider information (section 1.5.1). See also Cass. Com., November 18, 2008, no. 08-10.246. 15 – AMF, Enforcement Committee, SAN-2017-097-06, November 2, 2017.