Experts task quoted companies on post-listing requirements

Some financial experts on Thursday urged quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to adhere to post-listing requirements to reduce the spate of delisting on the bourse.

They said that the management of quoted companies should endeavour to comply with NSE post-listing requirements to avoid delisting and loss of investor confidence.

Delisting involves removal of listed securities of a company from a stock exchange where it is traded on a permanent basis.

Dr Uche Uwaleke, Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said that breach of post listing requirements was one of the reasons for delisting a company.

Others include failure to pay annual listing fee or a company in liquidation.

Uwaleke said that non-submission of audited and unaudited reports as required by the bourse also increased the chances of being delisted.

“Other issues bordering on corporate governance may attract sanctions such as trading suspension which is lifted as soon as the matter is resolved.

“To avoid being delisted, the management of a quoted company should endeavour to comply with the NSE post-listing requirements,’’ Uwaleke said.

He said that delisted companies should be encouraged to list on the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Over-the-Counter platform to provide a secondary market window for the shareholders of such companies.

Uwaleke called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure that shareholders of liquidated companies benefitted from its National Investor Protection Fund (NIPF) as a way of compensation.

Contributing, Alhaji Gbadebo Olatokunbo, Co-Founder, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity, lamented that shareholders suffered each time a company was delisted on the exchange.

Olatokunbo said that SEC and NSE should embark on proper checks and balances before listing any company on the bourse.

He added that shareholders must not suffer because regulatory agencies were the ones that approved the accounts that attracted investors to invest in companies.

Olatokunbo said that there should be provision to pay at least the minimum-quoted-price to ordinary shareholders by quoted companies before delisting.

NAN reports that NSE delisted eight companies for violating the listing rules.

The affected companies are Alumaco Plc, IPWA, Adswitch, G. Cappa Plc; West African Glass Plc; Investment & Allied Insurance Plc; Jos International Breweries and Rokanna Plc.

A total of 25 companies have been delisted in six years, from 2010 to 2016, from the NSE deploying regulations.

NAN