2019-01-01
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) of Egypt issued Board Decision No. (32) of 2019 to amend the Egyptian Exchange's listing and delisting rules. The decision extends the securities offering deadline for previously listed companies to September 30, 2019, mandates a minimum 75% major shareholder retention ratio for two years, and establishes comprehensive financial, audit, and disclosure requirements for listing foreign shares and companies undergoing corporate restructuring via division or merger. Additionally, it introduces two new listing conditions for entities required to prepare consolidated financial statements and those resulting from corporate restructuring, specifying strict profit, equity, and auditor report thresholds.
Having reviewed Law No. (159) of 1981 on Joint Stock Companies, Limited Partnerships with Shares, Limited Liability Companies, and Single-Shareholder Companies, and its executive regulations;
and the Capital Market Law No. (95) of 1992 and the decisions issued in implementation thereof;
and Law No. (10) of 2009 regulating supervision over non-banking financial markets and instruments;
and Presidential Decree No. (191) of 2009 on the provisions governing the management of the Egyptian Exchange;
and its financial regulations;
and the Statutes of the Financial Regulatory Authority issued by Presidential Decree No. (192) of 2009;
and Decision No. (11) of the Board of Directors of the Authority for 2014 regarding the rules for listing and delisting securities at the Egyptian Exchange;
and Decision No. (55) of the Board of Directors of the Authority for 2018 regarding the controls and means of publication for companies that offered securities in a public offering or have securities listed on the Egyptian Exchange;
and upon the approval of the Board of Directors of the Authority in its meeting held on 24/02/2019;
The third paragraph of Article (1 bis) of the Rules for Listing and Delisting Securities at the Egyptian Exchange issued by the aforementioned Decision No. (11) of the Board of Directors of the Authority for 2014 shall be replaced, and the third and fourth paragraphs of Article (7), section (a) under first of Article (16), and Article (24) of the same Rules shall be issued with the following texts:
Companies whose securities were previously listed on the Exchange prior to the implementation of Decision No. (142) of the Board of Directors of the Authority for 2017 regarding the amendment of the rules for listing and delisting securities at the Egyptian Exchange, and which have not yet offered their securities,
The shares of companies not meeting conditions (5) and/or (8) of this Article may also be listed in any of the following cases:
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In the five cases mentioned above, the retention ratio of each major shareholder in the company upon listing must not be less than 75% of their share in the company's capital and not less than 51% of the company's total shares, until the financial statements for the year in which the conditions stipulated in item 5 and/or 8 of this Article are met are approved. It is required that at least two full financial years have passed since the listing date on the Exchange, and that the aforementioned ratio be maintained in any capital increase for the same period, excluding bonus shares.
The shares issued by foreign companies may be listed provided they meet the following conditions:
(a) The company's shares must be listed on one of the foreign exchanges subject to the supervision of an authority exercising powers similar to those of the Authority in the capital market field, and the shares must be in Egyptian Pounds or a convertible foreign currency exchangeable for Egyptian Pounds.
The company's shares may also be listed if they are not listed on a foreign exchange, provided that more than 50% of its equity, assets, and revenues belong to its Egyptian subsidiary companies. It is required that the company submit consolidated financial statements for the two financial years preceding the listing request as stipulated in item (b) of this Article, and commit to preparing its financial statements post-listing in accordance with Egyptian accounting standards and Egyptian audit standards.
In the event a company with listed shares or Egyptian deposit certificates undergoes corporate restructuring involving a dividing company and one or more divided companies, the listing data of the dividing company shall be amended, and the shares of the resulting divided companies from the restructuring shall be listed – after registration with the Authority – as an extension of the listed company. This applies after the companies resulting from the division/restructuring are registered in the Commercial Register, subject to the continued availability of the minimum number of shareholders, capital, total number of shares, and free-float share ratio for both the dividing and divided companies' shares following the publication of the disclosure report for each resulting company, in accordance with the executive regulations of Law No. (159) of 1981. The report shall be published on the website designated by the Authority for this purpose, on the trading screens of the Egyptian Exchange, and on the company's website. A summary of the report shall also be published in one of the widely circulated daily Egyptian newspapers in Arabic, according to the form prepared by the Authority for this purpose. Shares of companies resulting from restructuring via merger, or those issuing shares as consideration for capital shares in the merged company, shall also be listed provided the merging companies were listed on the Exchange, subject to the same conditions stipulated in the preceding paragraph of this Article.
Two new cases, namely the fourth and fifth, shall be added to the cases stipulated in the third paragraph of Article (7) of the Rules for Listing and Delisting Securities at the Egyptian Exchange, as follows:
For companies resulting from restructuring via merger into companies whose shares are not listed on the Egyptian Exchange, they shall submit their financial statements covering the period from the completion of the restructuring until the date of submitting the listing request. These must be prepared according to the conditions and stipulations mentioned in Condition (5), accompanied by a limited periodic examination report from the external auditor, as well as the annual financial statements accompanied by the auditor's report for two financial years of the merging companies. They must be approved by the company's Ordinary General Assembly and authenticated by the competent administrative authority, subject to the availability of listing conditions for the merging companies prior to the merger.
This Decision shall be published in the Egyptian Gazette and on the websites of the Authority and the Egyptian Exchange, and shall take effect from the day following its publication in the Egyptian Gazette.
Dr. Mohamed Omran
Postal Code: 12577 Tel.: +202 35345350 - Fax: +202 35370036 info@fra.gov.eg
Smart Village, Building no. B-136, Giza Postal Code: 12577 Tel.: (00202) 35345350 - Fax.: (00202) 35370036 www.FRA.gov.eg