THE London Stock Exchange said yesterday that it had issued guidelines agreed with British industry regulators on the control and release of information which might affect the share price of companies. Publication of the guidelines follows worries about the handling of price sensitive information.

While the stock exchange said the document was not directly connected to the electricity regulator, it said the Office of Electricity Regulation was among the key regulatory bodies supporting the guidelines.

The objective of the guidelines is to help prevent disorderly markets and potential insider dealing in shares of regulated companies before the official release of price sensitive information by regulators.

In the guidelines, the stock exchange said efforts to avert leaks should include cutting the gap between the pre release of information and the official release to a minimum.