SINGAPORE (May 6): The financial industry regulators have given the go-ahead for listed companies and parties involved in rights issues or takeover offers to send out soft copies of the offer documents.
Under existing rules, printed copies of the offer documents are to be sent.
Often, these documents, easily running into hundreds of pages of legalese, are time-sensitive and have to be printed quickly.
Now, with printers not being able to function fully under the circuit breaker measures, mass printing and delivery of these documents will be a challenge.
The temporary measures take effect immediately and will last till Sept 30.
However, the authorities require issuers and parties who opt to send their offer documents electronically, to still send printed instructions to shareholders, guiding them on how to access the soft copies of the documents.
They must also send printed copies of the application or acceptance forms to shareholders.
These requirements will ensure that shareholders continue to be informed of these significant corporate actions by mail during this time, and be able to fully exercise their rights, say the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Securities Industry Council, and the Singapore Exchange in their joint statement.
“We also strongly encourage parties undertaking rights issues or take-over or merger transactions to allow shareholders to apply and pay for the subscription of rights issues, accept offers and inspect documents through the internet,” the authorities say.
