This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 1, 2021 - November 7, 2021

The ongoing dispute between Bursa Malaysia and Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd on the release of certain information related to a Special Independent Review (SIR) to look into the accounts of the company for the financial year ended June 2021 does not seem to have a solution.

Bursa, being the regulator of listed companies, contends that the independent directors have with them material information on the factual findings update (FFU) related to the SIR that the company should disclose to the public.

Serba, on the other hand, contends that the information given to the independent directors is not material and the regulator cannot compel it to disclose the information while the review is still ongoing.

Although Bursa is the frontline regulator, the overriding authority for capital markets is the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). It has wide-ranging powers to act in the interests of shareholders and other participants of the capital markets.

The Capital Markets and Services Act (CMSA) provides the SC with the authority to compel companies to disclose information. It can seize the books of listed companies or any other documents that it sees fit.

So far, the SC has been rather quiet on the dispute between Serba and Bursa.

What Bursa has done is to suspend the trading of Serba’s shares and warrants. But the suspension of the stock is obviously not the solution to timely release of material information. To resolve the deadlock, the SC would have to step in at some point.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.