The Royal Decree of 24 August 2005, published in the Belgian Official Gazette of 9 September 2005, amends the law of 2 August 2002 relating to the monitoring of financial markets.

In the previous version of this law price sensitive inside information needed not to be made public immediately if the company could appropriately appeal to the exception of the information being insufficiently fixed or stable.

The Royal Decree amendment to this law now requires public interest entities in Belgium to make an ‘occasional’ publication without delay of any price sensitive inside information. Very limited exceptions to the rule still exist but in any case the BFIC needs to be informed of the existence of ‘inside knowledge’.

The full text of the BFIC September 2005 publication can be found on the BFIC web site (www.cfba.be) by selecting "Listed Companies - Information", selecting "Circulars" and double-clicking “FMIC2003-02"-September 2005 amended publication (available in Dutch and French).