MAS, SIC, SGX RegCo to allow electronic rights issue and take-over documents

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Securities Industry Council and the Singapore Exchange Regulation today introduced measures that allow companies to temporarily do away with hardcopy offer documents for rights issues and take-over or merger transactions.

With immediate effect and until Sept 30, listed issuers and parties involved in such deals have the option to disseminate offer documents electronically instead.

In a joint statement, the three regulatory bodies said that the documents can be published on SGXNet and corporate websites.

Under the Securities and Futures Act, the Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers, and SGX Listing Rules, hardcopy offer documents must be distributed to the relevant investors.

The temporary measures are meant to reduce the physical manpower requirements of preparing, printing and delivering such hard copies, and are in alignment with other measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 at workplaces.

Issuers and parties opting for electronic dissemination must, however, send a hardcopy notification to shareholders with instructions on how access electronic documents.

A hardcopy application or acceptance form must also be sent out, although shareholders should be encouraged to use electronic methods of application and acceptance instead.