NZX also wishes to advise that a number of miscellaneous Rule changes will come into effect today, including amendments to Listing Rules 7.3.5 and 7.3.6 which deal with the thresholds for issuing additional securities.
The Minister of Commerce advised NZX that she had applied the disallowance process to the proposed Corporate Governance Listing Rule changes, as set out in the Securities Markets Act 1988, and that she had not disallowed the changes to the proposed NZX Listing Rules.
"The development of the new Corporate Governance Rules included thorough and extensive consultation with all key industry participants and we feel confident that they reflect the needs of both New Zealand's capital markets and our Listed Issuers," said Elaine Campbell, NZX General Counsel.
"Good corporate governance is an important tool in promoting investor confidence in listed companies by providing a framework for increased transparency and accountability," said Campbell. "Having said that we're conscious of the need for balance between regulation and the cost of compliance, which is why we have chosen a mix of both Rules and disclosure based regulation."
The Rules come into effect with one change - the Corporate Governance Best Practice Code is now an Appendix to the main Listing Rules instead of a stand alone Code. The new Corporate Governance Rules provide for a transitional period of 12 months from the date of commencement or at the conclusion of the Issuer's annual meeting.
The changes to Listing Rules 7.3.5 and 7.3.6 were made after feedback from Listed Issuers suggested that thresholds for issuing additional securities be raised from 10% to 15% (Listing Rule 7.3.5), and in the case of employee share schemes, the threshold be raised from 5% to 7% (Listing Rule 7.3.6). The final set of NZX Listing Rules can be found on the NZX website at www.nzx.com/regulation/issuer_supervision..
