An official report of the Securities and Commodities Authority revealed that 73% of the local public shareholding companies listed in the country's financial market succeeded in achieving various profits during the past year.

The report, of which Emirates Today obtained a copy, confirmed that the Authority suspended the circulation of five public shareholding companies during the past year, for various “reformative” reasons, while seeking to educate and guide investors, officials and employees of companies, with their rights and obligations and obligations, Through the organization of 24 seminars and mentoring workshops, which continued over 11 months.

In detail, a recent report of the Securities and Commodities Authority stated that the total of local public joint-stock companies listed on the financial market reached 110 companies during the past year, explaining that the number of companies that achieved profits, until the end of the third quarter of 2019, reached 81 public joint-stock companies. At a rate of nearly 73% of the total number of listed companies.

The report, which was submitted by the authority to the Federal National Council, stated that the total number of companies that recorded varying losses reached 24 companies, noting that the authority stopped trading five companies during the past year, for various reasons, including waiting until the approval of plans to address the accumulated losses, and reaching negotiation With strategic partners.

The report identified two mechanisms for the procedures followed by the authority at the legislative level, to limit the negative results achieved by some companies, the first related to the application of Federal Law No. (2) for the year 2015 regarding commercial companies, which authorized joint-stock companies, the entry of strategic partners, and the conversion of cash debt into shares in The capital of the company, and the issuance of convertible bonds or bonds for the company's shares, with the exception of the priority right for the shareholders of the company, according to Articles No. 223, 224, 225, 229, 230.

The law also authorized - according to the report - the merger of the losing company with another company or companies, as well as the acquisition of existing companies, according to Articles «283, 284, 285, 292», pointing out that those articles contributed to stopping the negative results of some companies and achieving positive results During the year 2019, for example, the entry of the government of Sharjah into the investment bank (a public joint stock company), and starting to address the losses and financial allocations required from the Emirates Central Bank, as well as the entry of the Abu Dhabi Financial Group into the Shuaa Capital (a public joint stock company) as a strategic partner, what Profited during the fiscal year ending in 2019, and entered Pal Group Company LLC, and Pal Technology Services Company LLC are a strategic partner in the International Holding Company (a Public Joint Stock Company), in addition to submitting a request from the Abu Dhabi government to increase its investments in Taqa Company (a public joint stock company) ), Through the issuance of convertible bonds for shares, the merger of Union Bank (a public joint stock company) into Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (a public joint stock company), and the latter's acquisition of Al Hilal Bank (a public joint stock company).

The report indicated that the second of the mechanisms that the authority follows “legislatively” to limit the negative results achieved by some companies, is to implement the authority’s chairman’s decision No. (32 / R) for the year 2019, regarding the procedures for listed companies Its shares in the market, whose accumulated losses are 20% or more of its capital, as this decision contributed to stopping the unsound practices of some companies during the last quarter of last year, and motivated them to tackle their financial situation, which prevented them from trading, in addition to providing a greater amount of Protecting investors to rationalize their investment decision.

The decision also included requiring these companies to include a detailed analysis of their financial statements, a detailed analysis of losses, their amount, their ratio to capital, their causes and procedures to be taken to remedy them, as well as requiring companies whose losses amounted to 50% or more of their capital, to include in their disclosure of their financial statements a detailed analysis of losses and their amount And its ratio to the capital and its causes, and the actions that will be taken to address them, as well as inviting the general assembly of the company to convene within 30 days from the date of the disclosure of the losses, to take a decision regarding the continuity of the company.

The decision also includes the inclusion in the call of the general assembly for the loss treatment plan, prepared by a body with technical and financial expertise approved by the authority, and those companies must form a committee to follow up the implementation of the accumulated losses treatment plan, and disclose to the authority and the market details of the implementation of the plan.

Educating investors and corporate officials about the rights and obligations

The Securities and Commodities Authority report outlines the measures taken by the Commission to educate investors and corporate officials of their rights and duties, including that the Authority organized 24 awareness seminars and a guiding workshop, during the period from February to the end of December last year, it talked about corporate governance, dedicated to members of boards of directors Executives, international standards for measuring investment performance, in cooperation with the CFA Institute in the Emirates, corporate governance, dedicated to members of the executive boards of directors, along with an awareness lecture titled “Protection of the rights of shareholders in public joint-stock companies”, and another entitled “Protection The rights of shareholders in public shareholding companies ».

Lectures and awareness workshops also spoke about trading financial derivatives in local markets, financial analysis in financial markets, investing in financial markets, dealing with derivative contracts in local markets, the federal law regarding money laundering crimes, the limits of the authority's powers to deal with listed companies, Market Maker and Its Mechanism, Market Maker Symposium and Liquidity Provider Concepts, Protection of Shareholders ’Rights in Listed Joint Stock Companies, Sukuk Development in the Middle East and North Africa.

It also dealt with: youth, the future of financial markets, the risks of financial markets, the definition of financial markets in the country, the governance of listed public shareholding companies, awareness of all that relates to “block shin”, investing in financial markets in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi market, Islamic financing standards for the authority’s employees, introducing a law Money laundering and terrorist financing, and finally a symposium on sustainability.