The Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) has issued a resolution adopting guidelines concerning the dealings by key persons in shares and securities accepted for trading on the exchange.

The resolution was published in the Official Gazette number 2972 and the guidelines will become effective from December 1.

According to the guidelines, the term key persons refers to members of an issuer's board of directors, senior management, the issuer itself, and such other persons as decided by the issuer's board, as they have access to insider information.

Key persons are allowed to buy and sell shares and securities accepted for trading on the BSE throughout the year without specifying the close period that prohibits the trading of insiders 15 days before the end of each financial year and each related quarter, until the company publishes its quarterly and annual financial statements will no longer be applied.

In addition, the guidelines also do not oblige issuers to form a committee in order to monitor the dealings of key persons in listed companies.

Instead, a representative appointed by the board of companies will have to maintain and monitor a register which includes basic personal data of key persons and information on their holdings and dealings, and submit it to the BSE.

The objective of the guidelines is to facilitate the dealing of key persons in shares and securities accepted for trading on the BSE, and will also reduce the administrative burden on issuers of securities and key persons.

The new guidelines are also intended to establish greater transparency at the BSE and ensure a fair environment for the trading of all investors in the market.

The BSE organised a workshop in August concerning the new guidelines.

More than 75 representatives from listed companies, brokers, and custodians attended the workshop, where they were briefed about the contents of the new guidelines and the legal and administrative requirements for implementation.-TradeArabia News Service