Public Listed Companies Prepare for AGMs.

Muscat, Feb 25 (ONA) --- With the annual general meetings' (AGMs)

season approaching, the companies are forwarding their applications

for approval of ordinary annual general meetings by the Capital Market

Authority (CMA) as most ordinary annual general meetings convene in

March every year.

On the importance of general meetings of the companies and

investment funds, Mohammed bin Saif al-Rashdi, Director of Legal

Affairs and Enforcement Department at CMA said the legislator

conferred on the general meetings a regulatory role that includes

protecting the rights of small shareholders and ensuring integrity,

prohibiting conflicts of interests between related parties as the general

meeting is the supreme authority of any company that takes all

resolutions in material matters over the powers of the board of directors

and their resolutions are final and mandatory.

He added the general meeting of the company has wide powers

as the shareholder can vote and contest its decisions, in addition to

measuring the competency of directors and their ability to contribute in

directing the management of the company, as well as electing the

directors to lead the company in the interest of the shareholders.

The legislator allows the shareholders who hold at least 5% of

the shares to suspend the resolutions of the general meeting resolved

in favor of specific group of shareholders or detrimental to them or for

the benefit of directors or others by presenting an objection to the

board of directors of CMA.

Al Rashdi said that the CMA commenced approval process of the

general meetings of public joint stock companies this season. He

added that the CMA is keen to provide protection of the shareholders to

exercise their rights by organizing the timetable of general meetings to

ensure attendance of the shareholder in all meetings of the companies

he/she invests in. The CMA will dispatch an observer to attend the

general meetings to ensure consistency of the resolutions with the law.

CMA is also monitoring the companies' disclosure through the MSM

system, the key resolutions taken by the general meeting in the day

following the day of the meeting in an adequate time prior of trading

session.

Al Rashdi said the legislator has set out an integrated legal

framework ensuring the rights of shareholders in the general meeting

and provides for regulatory role in the general meeting as the matter

relates to exercising the rights and active participation in the works of

the general meetings.

--- Ends/HG/KH

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