OREANDA-NEWS. Singapore Exchange (SGX) is introducing a half-yearly report to update shareholders on companies with shares suspended for 12 months or more.

The initiative is one of several SGX is planning to improve regulation of listed companies’ continuing obligations as well as at the listings admission stage.

“We acknowledge there is room to improve, particularly at the point where we have most control, which is at the time of admission. We need to work with the industry to make sure we admit the right companies,” said Tan Boon Gin, Chief Regulatory Officer of SGX.

“As for companies post-listing, this new half-yearly Report on Long-Suspended Companies is part of enhancements in our oversight. We welcome feedback on our initiatives as we work together with market participants to better calibrate our regulatory framework to manage the risks of our diverse listings and cater to the needs of investors,” Mr Tan said.

The report covers 20 companies and sheds light on their developments, particularly if they have not made company disclosures for some time. In the report, SGX provides information on actions it has taken, and its engagement with the companies, directors, special auditors, judicial managers and/or liquidators.

SGX’s engagements with the companies were aimed at achieving a share trading resumption proposal, or extracting an exit offer for minority shareholders should a delisting occur. Some of these engagements were also long-drawn due to difficulty in establishing contact with, or eliciting a response from, board directors.

Of the 20 companies in the report:

  1. 11 companies are exploring trading resumption or a reverse takeover
  2. 2 companies are pursuing court action against individuals
  3. 4 companies are in the delisting process of which 2 are exploring an exit offer
  4. 1 company was recently placed under judicial management
  5. 2 companies are pending responses to SGX queries

“As much as we may want a speedy conclusion to each case of long-suspended companies, for the benefit of shareholders we aim for the companies to achieve a trading resumption proposal. Otherwise, our next course of action would be to try to extract an exit offer. Only when we are satisfied that the company has established the lack of financial resource for an exit offer will we allow a delisting without an offer,” said June Sim, Head of Listing Compliance, SGX.

SGX will review all companies, directors and management to see if there is any breach of the listing rules.

 

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