What changes on day one
From the first trading day, the company is subject to market abuse rules and, on regulated markets, the full transparency regime. Its share price reacts to everything it says and does not say. A practical way to think about it: every piece of information now has an audience, a timing and a liability.
Periodic reporting
For EU regulated-market issuers:
- Annual financial report: audited consolidated financial statements, management report and responsibility statement, published within four months of year end.
- Half-year report: condensed financial statements and interim management report within three months of the period end.
- Quarterly statements: required by some markets and segments, expected by investors in many others.
- Sustainability reporting: increasingly part of the annual report, depending on size and applicable rules.
Publish a financial calendar with all dates for the year and stick to it.
Inside information and ad hoc disclosure
Under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), an issuer must publish inside information that directly concerns it as soon as possible. Inside information is precise, not public, and would likely have a significant effect on the price if it were public.
- Disclosure can be delayed only if immediate disclosure would prejudice legitimate interests, delay would not mislead the public, and confidentiality is ensured. The decision and reasons must be documented and, in many cases, explained to the regulator afterwards.
- Typical triggers include profit warnings or results far from market expectations, major contracts, acquisitions, management changes, financing measures and significant litigation.
Set up a disclosure committee (for example CEO, CFO, General Counsel, Head of IR) with a documented process to assess potential inside information quickly, including outside office hours.
Insider lists
Issuers must keep lists of everyone with access to inside information, project by project, with prescribed data fields, and inform those persons of their obligations. Advisers keep their own lists.
Managers' transactions and closed periods
- Persons discharging managerial responsibilities, and persons closely associated with them, must notify their transactions in the company's shares above a threshold. The issuer publishes these notifications.
- A closed period applies before the announcement of interim and annual results (under MAR, 30 calendar days), during which managers may not trade, subject to narrow exceptions.
Major shareholdings
Shareholders crossing voting-right thresholds must notify the company and the regulator, and the company publishes the notification. Thresholds differ by country.
Investor relations
A professional IR function:
- prepares results publications, presentations and earnings calls,
- maintains contact with analysts and tracks consensus,
- organises roadshows, conferences and capital markets days,
- runs the IR website with all required publications,
- manages guidance and expectation-setting,
- monitors the shareholder base and trading.
Guidance policy. Decide what the company will guide on (revenue growth, margins, capex) and how it updates guidance. Inconsistent guidance practices damage trust faster than weak results.
The annual general meeting
The AGM approves the accounts (depending on jurisdiction), dividends, the discharge of board members, auditor appointment, remuneration matters and capital authorisations. Proxy advisers' recommendations matter for institutional votes. Prepare early.
Lock-up expiry and the shareholder base
As lock-ups expire, existing shareholders may sell, often through accelerated bookbuilt placements. Plan these with the banks to avoid disorderly selling and to broaden the shareholder base.
The first year: what matters most
- Deliver the first reports on time and in line with the equity story.
- Avoid surprises: if a target is at risk, assess disclosure duties early.
- Build relationships with the analysts who cover the company.
- Keep the internal disclosure and insider processes working, not just documented.
- Review the board and committee work after the first annual cycle.
Use the first 100 days after listing checklist to set this up.