Introduction to Luxembourg Stock Exchanges electronic platform

The current age of digital economy has resulted in a technological shift and in an according digitalisation trend. This change has manifested itself in several sectors such as in the financial markets industry. In February 2021, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange ("LuxSE") implemented a new electronic platform aimed at accelerating and facilitating market participants' listing operations (including the filing of documents to be approved by the LuxSE) while enabling them to access financial markets (the "Platform").

The Platform offers four key features: (i) a centralised portal with automated workflows for most types of listings, (ii) real-time control over an issuer's submissions, (iii) direct filings of final terms to the CSSF and (iv) full audit trail of all activities ¹ . In this respect, the Platform offers five services: (i) Financial Instrument Reporting Service Tool ("FIRST"), (ii) E-LISTING, (iii) Perma-link Upload Service ("PLUS"), (iv) LGX DATAHUB USER and (v) LGX DATAHUB POWER USER.

Clients must complete the Services Selection Sheet in which they choose the desired services. By doing so, they are bound to comply with the Terms and Conditions for the Use of LuxeSE's Platform and Services.

I. FIRST:

As part of its duties on account of having achieved a listing on the Euro MTF market or the regulated market operated by the LuxSE, issuers must fulfil post-listing reporting and disclosure requirements. The Financial Instrument Reporting Service Tool ("FIRST") is the LuxSE's 24/7 online portal used for the submission of announcements in order for issuers to comply with their disclosure obligations. It enables issuers, or their agents or law firms, to simultaneously communicate the relevant information to (i) the market (Financial News Services ("FNS") Publication Service), (ii) the Luxembourg financial supervisory authority (the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier ("CSSF") and (iii) the officially appointment mechanism ("OAM") operated by the LuxSE through its portal ² . Consequently, FIRST is of particular interest to issuers whose securities have been admitted to trading on a regulated market and who are subject to the Luxembourg law of 11 January 2008 on transparency requirements (the "Luxembourg Transparency Law"). In specific instances, such as with respect to Luxembourg incorporated issuers of equity securities which have been admitted to trading on regulated market other than the one operated by the LuxSE, the use of FIRST is consequently also of practical benefit The purpose of FIRST is therefore threefold: (i) reducing reporting costs, (ii) saving time when communicating the relevant information and (iii) ensuring compliance with reporting requirements. To that end, FIRST enables issuers to publish in real time all the relevant information and to do so, even if after the LuxSE's closing hours.

a) FNS Publication Service:

The FNS Publication Service is used for publishing notices, announcements and press releases. Its focus is to assist clients in meeting their obligations regarding the disclosure of regulated information and ensure that said information is circulated to the public. In the event that an announcement has to be made regarding a security or financial instrument, this service is used to ensure that the issuer complies with its obligations under the Rules and Regulations of the LuxSE. Regulated market listed issuers who are subject to the Luxembourg Transparency Law can also use this service for the effective dissemination of regulated information as defined in the Luxembourg Transparency Law (the "Regulated Information") and other publications they have to make to the public in accordance to the Luxembourg Transparency Law.

b) CSSF Filing of Regulated Information Service:

In addition to being filed with the OAM (as referred to below) and being disseminated to the public, regulated information must be filed with the CSSF. The latter acts as financial supervisory authority for issuers who are subject to the Luxembourg Transparency Law. This filing can be done via FIRST.

c) OAM Deposit Service:

The OAM is the mechanism used for the storage of Regulated Information for archive purposes and as such freely accessible by the public.

Issuers, or their respective agents, must complete four steps to use FIRST. First, they must include the relevant information which they wish to communicate and select the portal in which the information will appear (FNS, OAM and/or CSSF filings). In the instance where a party wishes to proceed with an announcement regarding its services, it will select (i) its nature and (ii) the type of services. Issuers have the possibility of selecting a future date with its calendar function. Second, the FIRST platform scans the ISIN (International Securities Identification Number) codes to ensure that the information matches the relevant securities. Third, issuers will be able to review and validate the relevant documentation which they have submitted. Fourth, parties must complete the necessary payment, which can be made online or through the receipt of an invoice. Once the LuxSE has received payment, the relevant documentation will be published.

II. E-LISTING PLATFORM:

The e-Listing platform aims at providing exposure to clients by enabling them to submit admission requests regarding (i) (a) the admission of one or several securities to trading on one of the securities markets operated by the LuxSE or (b) the admission of securities onto LuxSE SOL and (ii) any document attached to or provided together with the application for admission. The applications must comply with the requirements enunciated in the Rules and Regulations of the LuxSE.

The e-Listing platform also enables issuers to request a filing of the final terms relating to a base prospectus with the CSSF as required by the EU Regulation 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 and the Law of 16 July 2019 on prospectus for securities.

In the context of the above, the platform offers, inter alia, four key features: (i) it enables clients to monitor and follow in real time the progress of their admission process for securities to be listed, (ii) the documents and information sent are stored and displayed in the platform, (iii) the platform enables the client and the LuxSE to communicate via its messaging service and (iv) the LuxSE may send comments regarding information or documents through the platform in the course of document approval procedures.

The e-Listing platform is of particular interest for issuers which do so on a regular basis. Indeed, rather than sending the relevant documentation to the LuxSE by email, it enables them to directly communicate the information via the platform.

III. PERMA-LINK UPLOAD SERVICE (PLUS):

A permalink is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) generated by the LuxSE and provided to the client that can comprise a hyperlink to download a document. PLUS has been implemented to ensure that issuers respect their duties pursuant to the Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 regarding prospectuses. It enables them to insert hyperlinks to documents which have been incorporated by reference and ensure compliance with the relevant framework.

Once a MyBourse account has been created, clients submit a permalink request and must subsequently ensure that all the information contained is (i) accurate, relevant, plausible, sufficient, necessary, correct, reliable and complete and (ii) complies with any applicable regulatory requirements. Given the requirement that all approved prospectuses must remain publicly available in an electronic format for at least ten (10) years subsequent to their publication, PLUS provides a link for an additional year to this minimum requirement.

IV. LGX DATAHUB USER and LGX DATAHUB POWER USER:

In 2016, the LuxSE implemented the Luxembourg Green Exchange (the "LGX"), a platform for green, social and sustainable securities. The LGX Data Hub is a centralised platform on green, social and sustainable bonds enabling parties to monitor both pre-issuance and post-issuance information. It includes four functionalities. First, it offers a dashboard which is personalised on a party's investment preferences. Second, with the Data Explorer feature, a graphical tool, clients can search and retrieve data in the LGX DataHub. Third, it includes focus and custom views which notably enable clients to obtain graphical representation of relevant data. Fourth, the Watch List feature assists clients in obtaining sustainability updates in the event or changes and/or updates on relevant data.

The Power User platform, in addition to providing the same features as the LGX Data Hub User, enables user to include an Excel data export functionality.

With regards to the applicable fees, the LuxSE provides a fee schedule according to the type of service which can be paid online depending on the program selected.

V. What does it mean for you?

From a practical perspective, the interest of these programs is that they accelerate and facilitate issuer's obligations. Indeed, rather than employing the traditional method, which consists in sending an email to the LuxSE, issuers can notably (i) communicate all the relevant information to several stakeholders, (ii) upload the relevant information at their convenience and (iii) publish their information in real time.

More information
For more information or any assistance required in connection with the above you can contact our Luxembourg Ashurst team.

Authors: Isabelle Lentz, Markus Waitschies and Sacha Nesviginsky

_{1 Luxembourg Stock Exchange, e-Listing, online, https://www.bourse.lu/e-Listing
2 Luxembourg Stock Exchange, FIRST-Financial Instruments Reporting Service Tool, https://www.bourse.lu/first}