(MEBG) – Maqbool Ali Sultan, Oman’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, has warned joint stock companies that the country’s capital markets law will be rigorously implemented and violators will be punished.
The Public Authority for Capital Market (PACM), which was set up last year to modernize and stimulate the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), will oversee the process that checks that joint stock companies are properly implementing the capital market law.
The law stipulates that “members of boards of directors or high management employees shall have no direct or indirect interest or advantages over others in the dealings carried out through the company.” However, there have been frequent reports in Oman of board members joint stock companies have been involved in the formulation of contracts in which they personally have been beneficiaries.
The minister recommended that joint stock company with a capital base of more than 5 million Omani riyals appoint full-time auditor. Furthermore, a company which has lost 75 percent of its capital base should be voluntarily liquidated or it should be restructured or converted into a closed joint or limited liability company.
