Order on the obligation of financial undertakings etc. to publish the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment of the undertaking etc.

Order on the obligation of financial undertakings etc. to publish the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment of the undertaking etc.

Pursuant to Section 347a and Section 373, subsection 4, of the Act on Financial Business, cf. Act Consolidation No. 1731 of 5 December 2023, Section 270, subsection 1, and Section 287 of the Act on Stockbroker Companies and Investment Services and Activities, cf. Act Consolidation No. 232 of 1 March 2024, Section 165, subsection 1, and Section 190, subsection 5, of the Act on Investment Funds etc., cf. Act Consolidation No. 46 of 13 January 2023, as amended by Act No. 1546 of 12 December 2023, Section 53 and Section 78, subsection 6, of the Money Laundering Act, cf. Act Consolidation No. 316 of 11 March 2022, Section 140 and Section 152, subsection 7, of the Act on Payments, cf. Act Consolidation No. 53 of 18 January 2023, Section 243 and Section 255, subsection 1, of the Act on Capital Markets, cf. Act Consolidation No. 198 of 26 February 2024, Section 20 and Section 26, subsection 4, of the Act on Financial Advisors, Investment Advisors and Mortgage Credit Intermediaries, cf. Act Consolidation No. 2016 of 1 November 2021, Section 162 and Section 190, subsection 5, of the Act on Managers of Alternative Investment Funds etc., cf. Act Consolidation No. 231 of 1 March 2024, Section 10l and Section 14a, subsection 2, of the Act on the Employees' Retirement Fund, cf. Act Consolidation No. 1109 of 9 October 2014, as amended by Act No. 1490 of 23 December 2014, Section 73a of the Act on Work Injury Insurance, cf. Act Consolidation No. 1186 of 19 August 2022, Section 27l and Section 32a, subsection 2, of the Act on the Labour Market Supplementary Pension, cf. Act Consolidation No. 1110 of 10 October 2014, as amended by Act No. 1490 of 23 December 2014, Section 15b and Section 22, subsection 4, of the Act on Real Estate Credit Companies, cf. Act Consolidation No. 285 of 1 March 2023, Section 301 and Section 316, subsection 1, of Act No. 718 of 13 June 2023 on Insurance Business, Section 35 and Section 42, subsection 7, of the Act on Insurance Intermediation, cf. Act Consolidation No. 337 of 11 March 2022, Section 23 and Section 30, subsection 8, of Act No. 450 of 24 April 2019 on Consumer Credit Undertakings, as amended by Act No. 801 of 9 June 2020, and Section 22 of Act No. 405 of 25 April 2023 on the Credit Association of Municipalities and Regions in Denmark, cf. Section 347a of the Act on Financial Business, and Section 25, subsection 3, of Act No. 405 of 25 April 2023 on the Credit Association of Municipalities and Regions in Denmark, it is hereby ordered:

Scope of Application

Section 1. This Order applies to:
1) Credit institutions, mortgage credit institutions, common data centres, as defined in Section 343q, subsections 1 and 2, of the Act on Financial Business, investment management companies, and CO2 quota traders under supervision pursuant to the Act on Financial Business.
2) Danish UCITS under supervision pursuant to the Act on Investment Funds etc.
3) Undertakings under the supervision of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority pursuant to the Money Laundering Act.
4) Undertakings under supervision pursuant to the Act on Payments.
5) Operators of a regulated market, central counterparties (CCPs), central securities depositories (CSDs), and providers of data reporting services under supervision pursuant to the Act on Capital Markets.
6) Financial advisors, investment advisors, and mortgage credit intermediaries under supervision pursuant to the Act on Financial Advisors, Investment Advisors and Mortgage Credit Intermediaries.
7) Managers of alternative investment funds and depositaries under supervision pursuant to the Act on Managers of Alternative Investment Funds etc.
8) Stockbroker companies under supervision pursuant to the Act on Stockbroker Companies and Investment Services and Activities.
9) Insurance companies under supervision pursuant to the Act on Insurance Business.
10) The Employees' Retirement Fund under supervision pursuant to the Act on the Employees' Retirement Fund.
11) Labour Market Occupational Injury Insurance under supervision pursuant to the Act on Work Injury Insurance.
12) Labour Market Supplementary Pension under supervision pursuant to the Act on the Labour Market Supplementary Pension.
13) Real estate credit companies under supervision pursuant to the Act on Real Estate Credit Companies.
14) Insurance intermediaries under supervision pursuant to the Act on Insurance Intermediation.
15) Consumer credit undertakings under supervision pursuant to the Act on Consumer Credit Undertakings.
16) The Credit Association of Municipalities and Regions in Denmark under supervision pursuant to the Act on the Credit Association of Municipalities and Regions in Denmark.

Section 2. For branches in Denmark of a foreign undertaking that has been granted permission to carry out the business mentioned in Sections 7-10 of the Act on Financial Business, Section 13 of the Act on Stockbroker Companies and Investment Services and Activities, or Section 14 of the Act on Insurance Business, in a country within the European Union or a country with which the Union has concluded an agreement in the financial field, Sections 4, 6, and 8 shall apply.

Publication

Section 3. After each inspection of an undertaking mentioned in Section 1 (hereinafter referred to as "the undertaking etc."), the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority shall prepare a statement, which the undertaking etc. must publish. The statement describes the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment of the undertaking etc., including any central directives, observations, and risk disclosures that the undertaking etc. has received from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.

Subsection 2. When the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority issues a directive, observation, or risk disclosure to an undertaking etc., and this is not done in connection with an inspection pursuant to subsection 1, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority shall prepare a statement, which the undertaking must publish, when the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority assesses that the relevant reaction has significance for:
1) Customers in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 1, 3, 4, and 6-16.
2) Members in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 10-12.
3) Depositors in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 1, 3, 4, 6-9, and 16.
4) Creditors in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 1-4, and 6-16.
5) The financial markets on which the undertaking's shares or securities issued by the undertaking are traded, in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 1, 3, 4, 6-9, and 13-16.
6) Investors in associations etc. covered by Section 1, item 2.
7) The proper functioning of the markets in undertakings covered by Section 1, items 5 and 13.

Subsection 3. This Order shall not apply to supervisory reactions issued to undertakings mentioned in Section 1, which are published pursuant to Section 354a, subsection 1, and Section 354e, subsection 1, of the Act on Financial Business, Section 176, subsection 1, of the Act on Investment Funds etc., Section 55, subsection 1, of the Money Laundering Act, Section 138, subsection 1, of the Act on Payments, Section 241, subsection 1, of the Act on Capital Markets, Section 18, subsection 1, of the Act on Financial Advisors and Mortgage Credit Intermediaries, Section 171, subsection 1, of the Act on Managers of Alternative Investment Funds etc., Sections 277 and 285 of the Act on Stockbroker Companies and Investment Services and Activities, Section 291 of the Act on Insurance Business, Section 10g, subsection 1, of the Act on the Employees' Retirement Fund, Section 76b, subsection 1, of the Act on Work Injury Insurance, Section 27g, subsection 1, of the Act on the Labour Market Supplementary Pension, Section 15, subsection 2, of the Act on Real Estate Credit Companies, Section 33, subsection 1, of the Act on Insurance Intermediation, Section 21, subsection 1, of the Act on Consumer Credit Undertakings, and Section 22 of the Act on the Credit Association of Municipalities and Regions in Denmark, cf. Section 354a, subsection 1, of the Act on Financial Business.

Subsection 4. A statement pursuant to subsection 1 or 2 must not contain confidential information about customer relationships or information covered by Section 30 of the Act on Public Access to Information in the Public Sector.

Section 4. Branches mentioned in Section 2 may publish statements from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority containing information regarding the branch, which the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has become aware of in connection with an investigation of the branch.

Subsection 2. A statement pursuant to subsection 1 must not contain confidential information about customer relationships or information covered by Section 30 of the Act on Public Access to Information in the Public Sector.

Section 5. Publication pursuant to Section 3, subsections 1 and 2, shall not take place if, in the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment, it would cause disproportionate damage to the undertaking etc., or if investigative considerations argue against publication.

Subsection 2. Rules on publication pursuant to stock market law rules take precedence over this Order.

Subsection 3. If publication is omitted pursuant to subsection 1 or 2, publication shall take place when the considerations that necessitated the omission are no longer valid. This applies, however, only for up to two years after the decision to postpone publication.

Section 6. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's publication pursuant to Section 8 shall not take place if, in the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment, it would cause disproportionate damage to the branch, or if investigative considerations argue against publication. This does not apply, however, if the branch has previously published the statement itself.

Subsection 2. Rules on publication pursuant to stock market law rules take precedence over this Order.

Subsection 3. If publication is omitted pursuant to subsection 1 or 2, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority shall publish the statement when the considerations that necessitated the omission are no longer valid. This applies, however, only for up to two years after the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's decision to postpone publication.

Formal Requirements for Publication

Section 7. When the undertaking etc. has received a statement from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, pursuant to Section 3, subsections 1 and 2, the undertaking etc. must publish the statement no later than three business days after the undertaking etc. has received the statement. The undertaking etc. must publish the statement on its website in a place where it naturally belongs. When the undertaking etc. has published the statement, this must be notified to the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, which shall thereafter also publish the statement on its website.

Subsection 2. Simultaneously with publication pursuant to subsection 1, first sentence, the undertaking etc. must insert a link, which provides direct access to the statement, on the front page of the undertaking etc.'s website in a visible manner. The link and any associated text must clearly indicate that this is a statement from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. Removal of the link and any associated text from the front page and the information from the undertaking etc.'s website shall take place according to the same principles as those used for other notifications, but no earlier than when the link and information have been on the website for three months. For undertakings etc. that hold general meetings, representative meetings, or similar assemblies, the link and information may not be removed earlier than after the next ordinary general meeting, representative meeting, or similar assembly.

Subsection 3. Simultaneously with the undertaking's publication pursuant to subsection 1, third sentence, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority shall submit a report on the publication to the Minister for Employment for the undertakings listed in Section 1, items 10-12.

Subsection 4. If the undertaking etc. does not have a website, the undertaking etc. must publish the statement in a newspaper that is nationwide or has wide circulation in Denmark, or in another manner where the undertaking etc. can demonstrate that the statement reaches the group of persons mentioned in Section 3, subsection 2, in Denmark.

Subsection 5. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority may, notwithstanding subsection 1, third sentence, publish the statement on its website before the undertaking etc. in cases where the undertaking etc. has technical or practical problems with publication or in cases where the failure to publish is without real justification.

Subsection 6. If the undertaking etc. comments on the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's statement pursuant to Section 3, subsections 1 and 2, this must be done in continuation of the statement, and the comments must be clearly separated from the statement.

Section 8. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority publishes the statements mentioned in Section 4 on its website. Publication takes place after the branch has published the statement. However, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority publishes the statement no later than three business days after the branch has received the statement from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, regardless of whether the branch has published the statement.

Criminal Penalty

Section 9. A fine shall be imposed on anyone who fails to comply with the requirement for publication pursuant to Section 7, subsection 1, 2, and 4, first sentence. The first sentence does not apply to undertakings covered by Section 1, item 11.

Subsection 2. Companies etc. (legal persons) may be subject to criminal liability pursuant to the rules in Chapter 5 of the Penal Code. The first sentence does not apply to undertakings covered by Section 1, items 10 and 11.

Entry into Force

Section 10. This Order enters into force on 1 July 2024.

Subsection 2. Order No. 857 of 14 June 2022 on the obligation of financial undertakings etc. to publish the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's assessment of the undertaking etc. is repealed.

Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 28 May 2024

Morten Bødskov
/ Hans Høj