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NZX has been working today with all listed finance companies, and listed companies with significant finance company subsidiaries, on NZX's request for information of Friday 18 April. The purpose of the request was to ensure that those companies:
- Confirm that they are in compliance with their continuous disclosure obligations under the NZX Listing Rules, and
- Provide a set of salient operating metrics to ensure the market is fully informed, or
- Where any company considers these metrics are not relevant, provide their rationale.
The request was made to enable greater transparency and confidence in the listed finance company sector. In NZX's view the more frequently relevant information is made available to the market, the more confidence investors can have in those companies' financial health.
NZX believes that, in current market circumstances, open dialogue of this nature is healthy for the market and serves the best interests of investors. NZX will also continue to discuss these matters directly with the companies concerned.
In response to NZX's request, those companies that stated that they do not consider the provision of operating metrics relevant have nonetheless stated that they are in compliance with their continuous disclosure obligations. NZX will engage in dialogue with those companies to ensure these obligations are met on an ongoing basis. Some companies have offered additional operating information which they believe will be of value in keeping their investors fully informed.
In addition, NZX will continue to encourage listed issuers within the finance company sector to assess and present a set of operating metrics that could be regularly disclosed to the market and available to investors. Whilst the same set of operating metrics is not applicable to all individual companies, NZX is working with companies to better understand what further information, if any, would be most useful to their investor base.
The ultimate aim is to provide meaningful information to investors. NZX acknowledges that the listed finance company sector is subject to a continuous disclosure regime that the unlisted sector is not. However, NZX urges Trustees and the Securities Commission to consider requiring of unlisted finance companies a similar level of examination of their disclosure practices to their investors.
In September last year the government implemented changes to the law to strengthen the position of trustees of finance companies, and to assist them to perform their supervisory roles in the interests of investors. The information requested by NZX on Friday is a subset of information that is also reported to Trustees and the Reserve Bank on a regular basis by both listed and unlisted finance companies.
NZX will advise the market on an ongoing basis of any additional relevant information provided.
