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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (2229)	12/24/2003 12:57:26 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China unveils steps to improve company disclosure Reuters Shanghai, December 24 China's market watchdog has laid down rules to improve information disclosure by listed firms, the latest sign of redoubled efforts to heighten transparency on a bourse dogged by notoriously murky corporate dealings. Corporate opacity has been a persistent complaint of foreign and local players alike as overseas investors feel their way for the first time around the $500 billion markets via a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme that kicked off this year. "The latest requirements are aimed at enhancing quality of information disclosure in listed companies and are in response to the demands of market development," the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement published in newspapers on Wednesday. After tightening a secretive IPO approval process, the CSRC was now ordering companies to name in annual reports their 10 largest holders of tradeable shares and details of their holdings. Other measures included a requirement to impose and announce penalties on officials responsible for major asset losses, and outline a plan to redress the situation. Firms have in the past tended to brush off such losses with scant explanation. Funds, brokerages and wealthy individuals are typically large holders of traded shares, comprising a third of the market and distinct from non-floated state shares. Previous rules required firms to disclose only the 10 largest shareholders regardless of the float -- generally state enterprises. Earlier this month, the CSRC said it would publish for the first time details of members of committees that grant approval for corporate initial public offerings, and the result of votes. Investors have complained that some companies racked up losses in the first year after floating, implying the secrecy surrounding the process was allowing poor-quality companies to pass scrutiny. Firms of dubious quality have proliferated, analysts say. Of China's more than 1,200 listed companies, 13.5 per cent reported losses for 2002 -- unchanged from the previous year -- sparking widespread concerns about corporate governance. Abysmal corporate results have been a key factor in pushing China's 13-year-old stock market into a sustained downtrend over the past two years, with the benchmark Shanghai composite index having shed 33 per cent since its peak in mid-2001. hindustantimes.com