Capital Market Authority Kicks Off Public Consultation

Nov 20 , 2023


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With a series of bills making their way under the Capital Market Authority, a couple of drafts on public offers and participant fees were up for public consultation last week. The session at Skylight Hotel (Airport Road) saw a decent turnout with senior advisors Hanna Tedla, Solomon Bekele, Yohannes Arega and Sirak Solomon centre stage to receive feedback. Looking into compliance of the bill with the commercial code and possible amendments was suggested by participants. Meanwhile, representatives from the private sector expressed worries about a lack of competent skillsets and human capital for such a high standard set by the Authority. Concerns that the public offer bill caters only to prospective investors were raised by company executives. They indicated that navigating between the strict rules to sell shares is an "extremely difficult" challenge. Director General Brook Taye (PhD) quickly pointed out that watered-down regulations to accommodate companies' interests at the expense of investors will not be entertained. He affirmed that investor protection is at the heart of the Authority's inception by the Parliament, indicating the times of loose control over share companies will gradually fade. The foreign currency mentioned throughout the fee draft directive garnered attention in the second half, with a couple of comments to review its legal grounds. Sirak told attendees the intention is to merely indicate the market price while taking the critiques into consideration.


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