The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority has imposed an administrative fine of NOK 10 million on Vend Marketplaces ASA, formerly Schibsted ASA, for unlawful disclosure of inside information in analyst “pre-close calls”. Vend has notified the supervisor that it will accept the penalty. Between 25 and 31 March 2025, Vend held individual calls with 19 analysts. Based on an audio recording from one call, the supervisor concluded the company selectively shared non-public, price-sensitive information, including that market consensus for both first quarter 2025 and full-year 2025 EBITDA was still too high, alongside more granular expectations across business areas such as further declines in advertising revenues, negative first-quarter EBITDA for Delivery linked to falling Temu volumes, and a roughly NOK 25 million one-off cost for a January staff event. The decision cites the Market Abuse Regulation prohibition on unlawful disclosure of inside information, criticises Vend’s low awareness of information handling in these calls, and reiterates ESMA’s May 2024 good practices that aim to reduce the risk of unlawful disclosures, including expectations for analysts to treat any received inside information as such and report it to the supervisor. Vend has decided to discontinue pre-close analyst calls ahead of silent periods and is making other changes to its investor-relations routines.
Norwegian Finanstilsynet 2025-08-12
Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority fines Vend Marketplaces ASA NOK 10 million for unlawful disclosure of inside information in pre-close calls
The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority fined Vend Marketplaces ASA NOK 10 million for unlawful disclosure of inside information during analyst calls. Vend shared non-public, price-sensitive information, violating the Market Abuse Regulation. The company will accept the penalty and has decided to discontinue pre-close analyst calls and revise its investor-relations practices.