The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has organized a forum to discuss the significance of disclosure of periodic financial statements by public joint stock companies, the best international practices in that regard and the period within which to do so.

 Speakers at the forum include, H.E. Maryam Al-Suwaidi, Deputy CEO for Legal Affairs, Issuance and Researches, Mr. Rami Al-Nusoor, Financial Advisor at the SCA and other SCA advisors and technical experts.

In her submission, Al-Suwaidi said the standards and criteria of disclosure being implemented on the UAE securities markets, including periodic and annual disclosure of financial reports and statements, are one of the best in the world, and can be compared with those being implemented in the United States, Britain and Malaysia. She buttressed her claim with statistics as shown in the comparison table below:  

Continuing her argument, Al-Suwaidi said the extension of period of disclosure of statement of account by companies from 30 days to 45 was due to demand for meeting additional requirements and conditions for disclosure, including preparing in both English and Arabic financial reports according to international accounting standards of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The rules also demanded that the financial reports must also include the reports of the company's board and auditor, the financial centre's report, the income report, cash inflow report, report on any change in the stakes of the stakeholders and explanations on the statement of account.

 She pointed out that there are many local companies with huge investments and affiliate companies and partners inside the country and/or abroad and this required longer period to be able to finalize the preparation and the review of the financial statement reports. She said the extension of the period does not necessarily mean that the company shall wait up to the end of the stipulated period before making the disclosure of its financial statement, adding that many companies disclose their financial statement within the stipulated period. This can be clearly noted when we read the newspapers and the official website of the SCA and the stock markets, she noted.

Contributing to the discussions, Mr. Rami Al-Nusoor, said the SCA attaches great importance to the issue of disclosure and transparency. "This stems from the SCA's deep belief in the role disclosure plays in the building of confidence in the securities markets," he said, adding that the measure was part of the SCA's efforts to boost sound practices and to ensure the safety of the securities markets.

He pointed out that the SCA had made a giant stride in the area of disclosure, taking into consideration achievements made so far in that area over the past ten years of the SCA's existence. He said the SCA, in its efforts to boost disclosure and transparency, is implementing the best international practices in disclosure and other market related issues. "This is evidently stated in international reports and strongly proven by studies conducted by the SCA, in addition to positive comments made by international media, applauding the positive developments in the standards of disclosure the SCA is implementing," he added.

He noted that the SCA's regulations, in general and the regulations of disclosure and transparency, in particular, were being subjected to regular review and scrutiny to update them to meet the current international best practices on various markets in the advanced countries. This is being done in collaboration with local securities markets and other concerned parties, he added.