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Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Bursa Securities") today announced amendments to the Listing Requirements and the MESDAQ Market Listing Requirements in relation to the provision of financial assistance and public shareholding spread.
The amendments are aimed at enhancing the disclosure practices among listed companies and strengthening investor protection.
Amendments pertaining to financial assistance are only applicable to companies listed on the Main Board and Second Board. The key amendments are as follows:
- Listed issuer is required to make additional disclosure which includes quarterly announcements
on the details of moneylending activities within 7 market days after the end of each quarter. These
quarterly disclosures include details of the aggregate amount of outstanding loans of the
moneylending company, the amount of loans received by the moneylending company, the aggregate
amount of loans which have been in default for at least 3 months and the top 5 loans given (without
identifying the debtors concerned);
- Directors of listed companies which undertake moneylending activities are now required to
institute adequate policies and procedures on moneylending. These include maintaining clear and
sound credit-granting standards, monitoring and control of credit risk and timely identification
and administration of problem credits ;
- Companies registered with Bank Negara Malaysia as scheduled institutions and share financing or
share margin financing carried out by a listed company or its unlisted subsidiary which is a
Participating Organisation are exempted from complying with the requirements on provision of
financial assistance ;
- Listed companies and their directors must submit all information, documents or explanation on their moneylending activities to the Exchange as and when it is requested
Amendments in relation to public shareholding spread affect the Listing Requirements of the Main and Second Boards as well as Mesdaq Market. The key changes to the public shareholding spread requirements are as follows:
- Removal of the fixed 6-month automatic extension to rectify the shortfall in the public
shareholding spread. As such, approval and length of time extensions will be considered on a case
to case basis;
- Prescription of the following requirements are now set out in a new Practice Note / Guidance
Note:
- Disclosure requirements and contents of announcement pertaining to non-compliance of the public
shareholding spread requirements
- Contents of the application for extension of time and acceptance of a lower percentage of public shareholding spread.
- Disclosure requirements and contents of announcement pertaining to non-compliance of the public
shareholding spread requirements
The amendments to the Listing Requirements of the Main and Second Boards will take effect immediately except for certain specified provisions while the amendments to the Listing Requirements for the Mesdaq Market on public spread will take effect on 2 July 2007.
The complete text of the amendments is available for reference along with a set of frequently
asked questions and answers on Bursa Malaysia’s website at
www.bursamalaysia.com
