INVESTING PUBLIC

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 150, 20 March 1936, Page 13

INVESTING PUBLIC

Move For More Protection DELEGATES FROM STOCK EXCHANGES CONFER By Telegraph —Press Assn. —Copyright. (Received March 20, 12.46 a.m.) Melbourne, March 19. Important alterations in listing requirements are included iu the recommendations of a conference of delegates of Stock Exchanges of Australia and New Zealand. A number of resolutions are designed lo allord greater protection to the investing public and promote still further uniformity of practice. In regard to mining company prospectuses it is recommended that a prospectus shall be dated and signed and shall indicate for whom it is made. Auy extract from a report shall be a fair representation of the full report. A prospectus shall contain a statement setting out any interest, direct or indirect, in the vendor’s or promoter's consideration which a director, manager or broker may have. A prospectus shall disclose particulars of the price at which any property purchased or purchasable has ehauged hands during the two years preceding the issue, also the direct or indirect interest of directors, promoters or others in such transactions. It shall disclose payments to be made to vendors of areas under option, also particulars of royalty payments or total compensation to landholders or holders of leases. The conference considered that the practice of giving an option over unissued shares to vendors or promoters or persons other than cash subscribers was not iu the best interest of shareholders and the mining industry. It was resolved that the existence of such an option may debar a company from being listed, and that where such an option exists a footnote shall be affixed to the company’s balance-sheet showing the number of shares under option, the price of issue and date on which the opt'iou expires. Another recommendation is that gold-mining companies shall issue to stock exchanges and the Press a complete financial statement quarterly. Mining reports for exchanges must include the time and date of the information contained in the reports, while details of crushiugs or any important mining development shall be telegraphed to all exchanges where shares are listed, such telegrams to be confirmed later by a detailed report. Fourteen days' notice of a mining company’s meeting must be given, 11 days lor nominations for the board and nine days in the case of a candidate nominated by the directors. A company shall publish the total remuneration of all directors for the period to which the accounts relate. Other recommendations deal with the control of subsidiary companies. The conference expressed disapproval 'of the unreasonable delay by some public companies in issuing their accounts, and expressed the opinion that, in ordinary circumstances, a local company should issue accounts three or four months after the close of the financial period. The conference felt it would bo most difficult, if not impossible, to prevent the formation of companies unlikely to prosper, and the only deterrent would be adequate penalties for malpractices in flotations.