Commission alerting public to major reforms in capital markets

The Securities Commission of Papua New Guinea (Secom) has issued a notice to the public alerting them to major reforms in the country’s capital markets following the recent legislative review in 2015.
Secom executive chairman Christopher Hnanguie said the reforms followed a National Executive Council decision in 2011 and had paved the way for new initiatives and approaches in terms of structure and operations.
“Under the legislative changes, the Securities Act 1997 and its regulations were repealed and replaced with three new pieces of legislations inclusive of the Securities Commission Act 2015, the Capital Market Act 2015, and the Central Depositories Act 2015,” Hnanguie said.
“The new laws now set the foundation and provide the legal framework for the development and regulation of the capital market.
“The laws give additional powers and mandates Secom to lead the development of the country’s capital market.”
Immediate reforms include:
• Creation of the new Secom. Secom is now in transition from a division of the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) into a fully-fledged, standalone, independent governmental regulatory entity;
• review of previous business processes, and replacing them with new and better-focused regulations and guidelines. This includes the cessation of the Securities Regulation 1998 and Takeovers Code 1998. Their respective guidelines are no longer applicable; and,
• Developing regulations and guidelines for the capital markets, compulsory mergers and acquisitions code, corporate governance code, and licensing guidelines for trustees and fund managers.
Hnanguie said the reforms would not disrupt regular trading of equity securities on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange.
There will, however, be a temporary pause on new applications for:
• Initial public offering (IPOs); and,
• Types of prospectus registration, exemptions, takeovers, mergers or acquisitions, trustee and/or any other application of the repealed Securities Act 1997, Securities Regulation 1998, Takeovers Code 1998 and trustee and manager guidelines.
“Market participants and interested parties are encouraged to work closely with Secom,” he said.