The Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SecZim) has set penalties for listed companies found guilty of flouting Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) listing rules.
Through Statutory Instrument 218 of 2022, SecZim pegged the penalties in US Dollar terms, but payable in local currency at the prevailing official exchange rate on the day of payment.
Recently, ZSE halted the trading of Lafarge Cement shares for failure to issue out a full announcement of its takeover by Fossil Mines.
ZECO Holdings shares were also suspended from trading last year in February for breaching the ZSE listing requirements after the company entered a significant transaction without requisite approvals.
Agro-industrial focused group, CFI shares spent four years suspended from trading until 2021 for violating certain listing rules and regulations.
However, according to the penalties framework, an amount of US$14 200 shall be payable by every issuer that fails to publish audited accounts within 90 days subsequent to the year-end.
The penalty shall be payable within 30 days from the due date. Thereafter the penalty shall accrue at the rate of US$100 per day for a maximum of 30 days following which further action will be taken.
On late submission of interim accounts, the ZSE shall make a public announcement of issuers that have not submitted or published audited accounts within 30 days from the due date.
The costs of the public announcement shall be borne by the issuers who would not have submitted or published accounts within the period prescribed and a penalty of US$10 000 shall be payable by every issuer that fails to comply.
On late notification of material information or disclosures, the ZSE shall issue a letter of censure to the defaulting issuer requiring the issuer to make such an announcement.
“Where more than seven days’ lapse between the occurrence of the event and the date of the announcement, the defaulting issuer shall be liable to a fine of US$4 400, and thereafter the fine shall accrue at the rate of US$100 per day until the public announcement is made.
“Where the issuer fails to make a public announcement within 10 days of the event, the ZSE shall suspend trading of securities of the issuer for a period considered appropriate and restoration to trading of such securities shall be subject to a fine of US$157 500,” reads part of the SI.
In terms of the listing fees, the initial listing fees for Equity and REIT shall be 0,05 percent of the value of securities subject to a minimum fee of US$5 500 and a maximum fee of US$67 300.
The quarterly listing fees depend on the market capitalisation.
Tier 1 equity with market capitalisation of US$785 000 will pay a quarterly fee of US$5 400 while the mid-tier with an upper market cap of US$ 31,4 million will pay quarterly fee of US$27 200.
An equity with a market capitalisation of US$157,4 million will pay US$50 000.
According to SecZim, an additional listing fee of 0,05 percent of the value of securities subject to a maximum fee of US$43 000 will be prorated from the date of listing to the next billing date.
According to the SI, the monetary value of securities for which application for listing is made will be determined by the number of securities for which application for listing is made multiplied by the price per security.
In respect of capitalisation issues, where no market related price is attributable to the securities to be listed, they will be deemed to have a value calculated by multiplying the number of securities listed by the closing price on the declaration date.
In respect of introductions, where no price is attributable to the securities, they will be deemed to have a value calculated by multiplying the number of securities listed by the closing price on the first day of trading and in respect of each class of security listed, an annual listing fee shall be payable, except during the calendar year in which the first listing of securities is granted based on the market capitalisation value as at 30th November of the preceding year.
SecZim said the initial, annual and additional listing fees will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.
The initial listing fees for debt securities shall be US$13 000 for an instrument with a maximum nominal value of US$6,3 million. A debt instrument with a nominal value of US$15,7 million shall pay fees of US$25 800.
According to SecZim, where listing is done through a number of tranches, the first 5 tranches issued under a programme in a year will be billed at US$1 000 per tranche.
The next 10 tranches will be billed at US$500 per tranche, and all tranches in excess of twenty under a programme in a year will be billed US$250 per tranche. – Herald
