|
JSE
GEN
GEN - General - Request for comment on the Listings Requirements
The Issuer Services Division of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
continuously reviews the JSE Listings Requirements to ensure that:
1. practice that has developed is incorporated,
2. it remains aligned with international practice, and
3. feedback from sponsors and issuers are incorporated.
In light of this we are proposing certain amendments to the Listings
Requirements. Comment is invited from all market participants on the proposed
changes. The following is a high level summary of certain of these proposed
changes:
1. Changing the terms "registered auditors" to "accredited auditors" to
clearly distinguish the JSE process of accreditation from the registration
by the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors ("IRBA") in terms of the
Auditing Profession Act No 26 of 2005 or other similar international
bodies;
2. Changes to the range of sanctions available to the JSE with respect to
contraventions of the Listings Requirements by auditors and their advisors.
After consultation with the IRBA the JSE has agreed that it will no longer
go through the steps of giving an auditor a private sanction, a public
sanction or a fine. Instead the JSE will only be able to remove the
auditors from the list. Contraventions of the Listings Requirements will
also be referred to IRBA for them to take disciplinary action if it relates
to an auditor registered with them;
3. Removing the requirement to have the auditors of major subsidiaries
accredited with the JSE;
4. Additional responsibility for sponsors to advise the JSE when they or their
clients are in breach of the Listings Requirements. This responsibility is
implied within the current Listings Requirements but we deemed it prudent
to make it clear and specific;
5. Changes to trading statement requirements to make it clear that issuers
must publish a trading statement as soon as they have reasonable certainty
that their results will differ by more than 20% even if they can not
quantify a range or percentage at that stage. A further announcement will
then be required once they have certainty on a range. There has
unfortunately been a trend of companies waiting until the last minute
before releasing a trading statement even when they knew that they were
going to make either large profits or losses,
6. Changes have been introduced to allow the JSE to annotate a listing when
there is a qualification or emphasis on a review opinion. In the past we
had to wait a further 3-4 months for the annual report before we could
officially react;
7. The requirements to maintain shareholder spread has been removed. It is
almost impossible to enforce these requirements once a company is listed,
especially in those circumstances where it is not within their control.
Companies will still be required to have spread upon listing;
8. The JSE`s position on the splitting of chairperson and CEO has been
clarified to make it clear that listed companies need both roles and that
they must not be held by the same person. We have also provided for a lead
independent director in situations where the chairperson is not
independent;
9. The definition of independent non-executive director has been expanded to
make it clear that directors that participate in a share incentive/option
scheme are not deemed to be independent;
10. Changes have been made to the profit forecast requirements to introduce a
distinction between general and specific forecasts and also to make it
clear that targets and objectives for future periods are not deemed to be
forecasts. Specific forecasts will require sign of from sponsors whereas
general forecast will not;
11. We have made it clear in the requirements that transactions in the ordinary
course of business will not be categorized as a transaction in certain
circumstances;
12. Changes are proposed to the asset backed security requirements to allow for
alternative structures other than a trust where the same level of
protection is afforded to investors; and
13. Amendments have been made to the ETF requirements to make provision for the
listing of different asset classes and not only indices as we have at the
moment.
The JSE invites comment on the proposed changes from the market, to be submitted
to theroshneep@jse.co.za by 23 October 2009. The complete Listings Requirement
document, marked up with proposed changes, is available for review on request
at the JSE. The detailed changes are also available at www.jse.co.za under the
`Announcements` section.
23 September 2009
Date: 23/09/2009 14:27:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
| Profile Group (Pty) Ltd. has taken care in preparing all information on this website, but does not accept any liability for errors or out-of-date information. | |||||||||||||
| Other Profile Group sites: FundsData Online (unit trust data) | Profile Group corporate site | |||||||||||||
| [ Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | PAIA manual | FAQs/Help | Site Map | © Copyright Reserved 2026 ] | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
