The NZX has pushed out the date for publication of its corporate governance consultation paper.
While the consultation document was initially slated for release before June this year, the NZX said in a release last week it would delay publication until the September quarter.
“Due to the significant interest in this review and the timeframe for initial submissions being extended until the end of February 2016, NZX is targeting Q3 2016 for publication of the follow up consultation paper,” the NZX statement says.
According to the release, feedback from the initial round of consultation should be published early in April, pending approval from submitters.
“NZX received 45 high quality submissions from a range of interested parties, including listed companies, investors, industry bodies and other key stakeholders in New Zealand’s capital markets,” the statement says.
The stock exchange operator had also hired an external researcher to gauge the views of “15 small to medium sized issuers” on the proposed listed company governance revamp, which will be published as a side report.
“In addition, NZX is now engaging with a number of stakeholders, including the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) as part of the review process to address the fragmentation of existing corporate governance reporting requirements in New Zealand, which was highlighted as a key concern by respondents,” the release says.
The FMA may revise its Corporate Governance in New Zealand Principles and Guidelines Handbook following the review, the NZX statement says.
In February, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) published its submission on the governance proposals, calling for tighter international standards to apply to NZX firms.
“The New Zealand market is lagging in terms of company disclosure on strategy, risk and environmental, social and governance matters and we believe this to be to the disadvantage of New Zealand companies and shareholders,” the NZS submission says.
Under the review process launched in November last year, the NZX sought feedback on proposals to integrate the nine FMA Handbook principles into its corporate governance rules.
The proposals could lead to changes in areas such as director responsibilities, tenure and remuneration; board independence, and; disclosure standards.