A failure to publish financial statements within a required period by companies trading their shares at Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) will results in heavy fines, new listing rules shows.
The new rules, which take effect at the beginning of next year will see any quoted company that fails to publish its financials paying up to P500 per day for the entire period that it will be on the “default board”.
A default board that comes as part of the new listing rules and regulations will list all the companies that fail to publish their financials for one reason or another. At the same time, a maximum fine of P150 000 has been set for defaulting companies.
At the same time, listed entities will now be expected to include more information, including a range of expected results when making their cautionary statements. The companies are also expected to permanently appoint a “sponsor” and/or sponsoring broker. On dividend payment, BSE says it will now expect quoted companies to submit to the bourse a declaration by the board of directors that the company has passed the solvency and liquidity test.
The new rules and regulations were recently approved by the Non Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA). The new rules are expected to bring the local bourse at par with the international regulatory standards to while at the same time reflecting current market practice in a more user-friendly form. In putting up the new rules, BSE is said to have took into account the importance of promoting harmonization of the listing requirements in the SADC region which is an important project undertaken by the Committee of SADC Exchanges. The harmonisation is also tipped to make it feasible and easier for multinational companies to cross list within the SADC markets.