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"Secretaries to Directorate of listed companies should be members of the senior management and take corresponding responsibilities when participating in the decision-making from now on", stressed Director Zhou Guoqing of the Listed Company Department of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) yesterday in the SSE's 32nd qualification training course for Secretaries to Directorate. Zhou also said that in the "Listing Rules" modified and submitted to the China Securities Regulatory Commission for examination and approval, Secretaries to Directorate are required in principle to take the concurrent position of Vice General Managers of the listed companies. Besides, the SSE also plans to issue a document that listed companies should implement the regulations in the "Listing Rules".
The training course was held at the Shanghai National Accounting Institute, attracting more than 360 Secretaries to Directorate of listed companies nationwide.
Zhou pointed out in his speech that Secretaries to Directorate belong to the companies' senior management in terms of position and duties, which is specified both in the "Securities Law" and the "Company Law". He also revealed that the "Listing Rules" has highlighted and specified in principle the concurrent position of Secretaries to Directorate as Vice General Managers of their companies. The SSE also plans to issue a document to listed companies, requesting them to implement relevant regulations in the "Listing Rules". The SSE aims to cultivate a professional team of Secretaries to Directorate through several years' training and establishment of a complete database. Listed companies can refer to the database to have their choice if necessary. All this will give better play to the functions of Secretaries to Directorate.
Zhou stressed that the responsibilities of Secretaries to Directorate should be enhanced accordingly. In the past regulatory practices, Secretaries to Directorate from companies with problems in information disclosure, more often than not, avoid their responsibilities on the pretext of low position and being excluded in the companies' decision-making. From now on, they will participate in the decision-making as the companies' senior management and assume corresponding responsibilities. Publicly-condemned Secretaries to Directorate will be recorded in the "Listed Companies Credit Record", which will be connected with the bank credit reporting system, hence becoming their "blemishes". If the SSE finds out serious irregularities by Secretaries to Directorate, it will be announced publicly that the Secretaries to Directorate are unqualified for senior management in listed companies.
It is learnt that so far, more than 3,800 Secretaries to Directorate have attended the training. Secretary General Shen Yihu of the Shanghai Association of Secretary to Directorate of Listed Companies yesterday attended the course's opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
