As part of its review of the existing disclosure requirements and to bring more transparency and efficiency in the governance of listed entities, SEBI has made certain amendments to the Equity Listing Agreement, vide its circular dated 05 April 2010. The key amendments relate to the following:
(i) Listed entities having subsidiaries have been given an option to submit their consolidated financial results either in accordance with the accounting standards specified in section 211(3C) of the Companies Act, 1956, or in accordance with IFRS. This amendment is applicable with immediate effect.
(ii) While submitting the scheme of amalgamation/merger/reconstruction, etc. to the stock exchanges under clause 24(f) of the Equity Listing Agreement, the listed entities shall also submit to the concerned stock exchange, an auditors’ certificate to the effect that the accounting treatment contained in such schemes is in compliance with all applicable accounting standards. This requirement is applicable to all schemes of listed entities that are being filed before the Hon’ble Courts/Tribunals on or after the date of this circular.
(iii) Timelines for submission and publication of financial results by the listed entities have been streamlined. Listed entities shall disclose, on standalone or consolidated basis, their quarterly (audited or un-audited with limited review), financial results within 45 days of the end of every quarter. Also, audited annual results on stand-alone as well as consolidated basis, shall be disclosed within 60 days from the end of the financial year for those entities which opt to submit their annual audited results in lieu of the last quarter unaudited financial results with limited review. The revised timelines are applicable with immediate effect.
(iv) In respect of all listed entities, limited review/statutory audit reports submitted to the concerned stock exchanges shall be given only by those auditors who have subjected themselves to the peer review process of ICAI and who hold a valid certificate issued by the ‘Peer Review Board’. This requirement shall be applicable to all financial statements submitted by listed entities to the stock exchanges after appointment of auditors for accounting periods commencing on or after 01 April 2010.
(v) Listed entities shall disclose within forty-five days from the end of the half-year, as a note to their half-yearly financial results, a statement of assets and liabilities in the specified format. This amendment is applicable with immediate effect.
(vi) Appointment of the CFO shall be approved by the Audit Committee before finalization of the same by the management. The audit committee, while approving the appointment, shall assess the qualifications, experience & background etc. of the candidate. This amendment is applicable with immediate effect.
(vi) The formats of limited review report and statutory auditor’s report have been modified to make it clear that disclosures pertaining to details of public shareholding and promoters’ shareholding, including details of pledged/encumbered shares of promoters/promoter group, contained in the format have been traced from disclosures made by the management.
Please refer the following link to view the complete Circular
Listing Conditions-Amendments to the Equity Listing Agreement
