send to a friend by email

A workshop in Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE) to evaluate the Electronic Disclosure System

2007-05-24

Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE) held yesterday, a workshop in Nablus on the use of the electronic disclosure system for the unified reports, which aimed to re-evaluate the use of the system, and to enrich the program and derive lessons from its past use through allowing the users of the system of the listed companies to view their comments, point of views and questions and to give any suggestions and view the difficulties that encountered in using the system.  This aims to make the necessary modifications on the system to facilitate its use after eight months of doing the market periodic disclosures that has become smoother and more systematic and transparent.

The workshop was held at the PSE headquarters in Nablus and connected via video conference with Ramallah. Representatives of the majority of listed companies in the PSE (Financial managers, accountants and auditors who use the system) participated in the workshop.

The workshop opened with a welcoming speech delivered by Mohammad Hijaz head of companies and listing section at PSE. Mr. Hijaz welcomed the attendees, and emphasized on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the PSE Hassan Abo libdeh on the importance of the electronic disclosure system as it represents the spirit of the financial market and one of the most important elements of modern firms.

He noted that after more than eight months of using of the system the PSE has once again wanted to re-evaluate the system and explore the possibility of developing it, and to know the difficulties and constraints that faces who use the system from the listed companies. He added that the disclosure would not be a subject of bargaining as long as it pertains to the efficiency of the market and investor protection.

As for the possibility of applying the modifications, Mr. Hijaz pointed to the possibility of amending the system, and study the observations made by any company as long as it doesn"t do any conflict with the model, or doesn"t meet the international standards,  or as long as it doesn"t affect other companies, mentioning at the same time that the closure model was not designed to the disclosure requirements of one company, but designed to meet the needs of the entire sector, therefore, any design of a model will not satisfy all companies involved in the work sector by 100%.

Mr. Hijaz also reviewed a number of issues regarding the disclosure system and the use of the system, in order to strengthen the commitment and facilitate this process, and focused those issues and instructions on how to deal with models, the mechanism for delivery to the market, and not amending the models rules, as well as issues related to the currency of the financial statements, and the collected information, and delivering the annual report, and other instructions, topics and problems arising from the reality of the practical applying of the disclosure in general and the electronic system, in particular.

On the other hand, Dr. Ghassan Daas, Accounting, Finance and Information Systems lecturer at Najah National University, said that it was agreed with the PSE that the next version will contain many of the amendments, such as the possibility of adding clarifications and some items that take into consideration changing certain accounting standards and the specificity of each sector, stressing that the electronic disclosure system is designed to take full common denominators of companies that fall under each sector of the five working known sectors.