24 of the 61 listed firms including six banks failed to fill a template showing compliance with a raft of governance rules.
The firms were expected to make the disclosures to the regulator and shareholders four months after the end of the financial year, or end of April for companies whose accounts period closes in December.
The stringent code became operational last year in the middle of listed firms’ financial year, pushing the compliance deadline to April.
More than a third of companies listed at the Nairobi bourse failed to meet the regulators deadline to show compliance or non-compliance with the new corporate governance rules that demand disclosure of directors' pay, their term limits, adoption of a code of ethics and review of board composition.
An internal report by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) shows that 24 of the 61 listed firms including six banks failed to fill a template showing compliance with a raft of governance rules.
The firms were expected to make the disclosures to the regulator and shareholders four months after the end of the financial year, or end of April for companies whose accounts period closes in December.
The stringent code became operational last year in the middle of listed firms’ financial year, pushing the compliance deadline to April.
The firms were expected to report whether they had capped independent directors’ terms to nine years, ensured diversity in their boards with at least a third being independent, and a code of ethics established to guard against corrupt directors.
The listed companies must report on whether their directors attended corporate governance training for at least 12 hours per year. They must also disclose if they have a policy that manages conflict of interest among directors, have published related party transactions, made public the whistle blowing policy and annual governance audits.
CMA also needs to know whether they treat shareholders equitably and provide timely information to the owners and the Press.
Experts reckon that lack of awareness was behind the firms failing to prepare the reports by April, prompting International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Scribes Services, a corporate governance consultancy firm, to host a two-day refresher training staring July 11.
“The sessions for boards and management is meant to increase the awareness of their responsibilities as provided in the new code and comply with the 12-hour training rule,” said Bernard Kiragu, managing partner at Scribes Services. The training is anchored on stringent Code of Corporate Governance Practices for Issuers of Securities to the Public 2015, which requires companies to make good corporate governance an integral part of business dealings and culture.
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