The Corporate Governance Review 2013. Ukraine

I OVERVIEW OF GOVERNANCE REGIME

In Ukraine the primary law-making body is the Ukrainian parliament ('the Parliament'). The power to make laws may be delegated to lower governments or specific bodies of Ukraine, but only for prescribed purposes.

The National Stock Market Securities Commission of Ukraine ('the NSMSC') is the regulator for the securities market. The NSMSC was established in 1995 pursuant to the 1991 Law on Securities and the Stock Exchange, which was replaced in 2006 by the Law on Securities and the Stock Market.

According to the Law on the State Regulation of the Securities Market in Ukraine, the key tasks of the NSMSC include formation and insuring of unified state policy implementation concerning development and functioning of securities and the derivatives market in Ukraine, as well as coordination of state authorities' activities in the specified sphere. The NSMSC, which is financed from the state budget, licenses and regulates stock market participants and registers securities issues of domestic and foreign issuers.

An important aspect of implementation of state policy in the securities market is cooperation between the NSMSC and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Parliament.

Ukraine has recently made various efforts to improve its corporate governance environment in order to bring it into line with international standards and to overcome the existing shortcomings. In particular, these efforts have included the adoption of a new securities law in 2006 and a new depository system law in 2012. Most importantly, a Law on Joint-Stock Companies ('the JSC Law') came into force in October 2008 and fully applies starting May 2011. The adoption of the JSC Law is a significant step towards the establishment of a comprehensive corporate governance regime.

Currently, the legal framework regulating joint-stock companies ('JSCs') basically comprises the JSC Law, the Law on Business Associations, the Civil Code of Ukraine, the Commercial Code of Ukraine, the Law on Securities and the Stock Market (the Securities Law), the Law on State Regulation of the Securities Market in Ukraine and the Law on the Depository System of Ukraine.

By removing many of the gaps in current legislation regarding JSC activity, the JSC Law was a significant step forward for Ukraine in the protection of interests of both minority shareholders and major investors. Although not perfect, to this point it is the most comprehensive and well thought-out piece of legislation in the sphere of corporate governance in Ukraine. The JSC Law represents a major improvement over the Law on Business Associations with regard to the protection of minority shareholders' rights. For example, cumulative voting became possible, minority shareholders were given the right to place items on the agenda of shareholder meetings, and dissenting shareholders were given the right to demand that their shares be bought out if they disagreed with major corporate decisions. All of these were long-awaited steps towards a modern company law in Ukraine.

Further, in recent years the NSMSC has approved a significant number of clarifications of important provisions of the JSC Law. The main goal of such clarifications is to iron out some drawbacks and inconsistencies by explaining how certain key norms can be applied in practice. A number of important regulations were brought into compliance with the JSC Law or were newly adopted to develop and elaborate the procedures established by the aforementioned laws. All JSCs, both public and private, stand to benefit from these efforts to rationalise and simplify Ukrainian corporate law.

On 2 March 2011, the Law of Ukraine on Improving Regulation of Joint-stock Companies ('the JSC Amendment') was officially published and became fully effective from 1 January 2012. It made significant amendments to the JSC Law and is ultimately aimed at further developing existing legislative provisions on JSCs, enhancing protection of rights and interests of shareholders, creating new obstacles to raider attacks, and solving problems and curing irregularities arising in the corporate governance area upon implementation of the JSC Law.

The major changes in the JSC Law relate, inter alia, to dropping the obligatory listing for the shares of stock of public JSCs on a stock exchange while maintaining the requirement that their shares shall be admitted to trading on the stock exchange. In addition, the JSC Amendment introduced the possibility of private (off-stock exchange) trades in the shares in public JSCs, allowed a legal entity shareholder to be elected onto the supervisory council ('the council') of a JSC and clarified the cumulative voting rules at election of a JSC's governing bodies, etc.

II CORPORATE LEADERSHIP

i Board structure and practices

Generally in Ukraine there is a two-tier board structure comprising the management board ('the board') and the council. Both should exercise general governance over the JSC's activities except for matters of exclusive competence of the general meeting of shareholders ('the general shareholders' meeting').

According to the JSC Law, the council is a body that defends shareholders' rights, and controls and regulates the activities of the board within the competence specified by the company's charter and the JSC Law.

In JSCs that have 10 or more shareholders, establishment of the council is obligatory. In JSCs with nine or less shareholders, and in absence of a council, its duties will be performed by the general shareholders' meeting. In such cases, the powers of the council to prepare and hold the general shareholders' meeting envisaged by the JSC Law will be carried out by the board unless the company's charter stipulates otherwise.

The board manages day-to-day JSC activities. The competence of the board includes all matters of JSC operations, except for those within the exclusive competence of the general shareholders' meeting and the council. The board can be collective or individual.

The council structure is very specific and determined by various factors, the most important of which include the ownership structure, the type of industry and the market position of the company.

Members of the council are chosen from among individuals having full civil capacity or legal entities that are company shareholders. A corporate member of the council may have an unlimited number of representatives in the council.

Election of the council members of a public JSC will be only through cumulative voting. Election of the council members of a private JSC will take place under the principle of prorated representation of shareholders in the council or through cumulative voting. The specific method of electing council members of a private JSC is defined by its charter.

The same person may be elected to the council for an unlimited number of times. A council member cannot be simultaneously a board member, or a member of the internal audit commission or the sole external auditor ('the auditor') of the company, or both. This limits the possibility of abuse of powers by board members. The number of the council members should be established by the general shareholders' meeting.

A council member must exercise its powers in strict compliance with the terms of the relevant contract with the JSC and its charter, and a council member who represents shareholders must also exercise its powers in accordance with their instructions.

With regard to the composition of the board, the JSC Law stipulates that any person having full civil capacity, except the auditor or a member of the council of the company, may be elected to the board.

Rights and duties of board members are determined by Ukrainian legislation, or the charter or internal board regulation of the JSC, or both, and individual contracts between board members and the JSC. Generally, a JSC is represented by the chair of the board or a person who exercises the powers of the sole executive body ('the sole director').

The chair of the board is elected by the council, unless otherwise provided by the company's charter, in the order specified by the charter. The chair organises the work of the board, convenes its meetings and maintains minutes thereof. The chair may act on behalf of the company without any power of attorney simply according to resolutions of the board, inter alia, to negotiate, transact on behalf of the company, issue orders and give instructions binding on all employees of the JSC. Any other board member may also be vested with these powers if specified by the charter.

The sole director has the right to act on behalf of the company without a power of attorney, inter alia, to negotiate, transact on behalf of the company, issue orders and give instructions binding on all employees. In the event of the inability of the sole director to perform them, his or her duties may be performed by a person appointed thereby unless the charter or the JSC Regulation on the Executive Body, if any, provide otherwise.

The chair of the council is elected by and from among its members by simple majority vote unless the charter provides otherwise. The council may re-elect its chair at any time. The chair organises its work, convenes and presides over its meetings, organises the election of the secretary of the meetings, unless otherwise stipulated by the charter, and has other authorities as provided by the charter and the JSC Council Regulation, if any.

Should the chair of the council be unable to perform his or her duties, such duties should be performed by a council member appointed by the council, unless the charter or the JSC Council Regulation, if any, stipulate otherwise.

The JSC Law introduced provisions regarding council committees for the first time. The council may form permanent or provisional committees from among its members to study and prepare matters within the council's competence. The JSC Law provides for the right to establish an audit committee and an information policy committee. The committees should be headed by council members elected from among the nominees proposed by a non-controlling shareholder. The procedure of the committees' establishment and activity should be specified by the charter or the JSC Council Regulation, if any.

Nevertheless, international board practice concerning establishing committees of a council or board, or both, is still not widely spread in Ukraine. The policy committee is the most common committee in Ukrainian JSCs. Compensation committees tend to be established only on the councils of some Ukrainian companies. Other committees, popular in common law countries, such as finance, administration or shareholder committees, are not often found in Ukraine.

ii Directors

Prior to adoption of the JSC Law, the involvement of outside directors was impossible in Ukraine. The Law on Business Associations stated that only persons who were JSC employees could act as the head and members of the board. According to the current JSC Law, any individual having full civil capacity, except for the auditor or a member of the council, may act as a member of the board; outside directors may thus, now be involved, but such practice is still not widespread in Ukrainian JSCs.

All matters of day-to-day operations of a JSC, except for those delegated to another JSC body pursuant to the law, the charter, a resolution of the general shareholders' meeting or a resolution of the council, falls under the competence of the sole director or members of the board (the directors). Generally, the following directorial duties are specified in a JSC charter:

a drawing up draft resolutions of the general shareholders' meeting;

b approval of a JSC schedule of personnel and salaries of the employees, JSC plans, estimates and budgets;

c approval of current plans and financial reports of JSC activity and measures that are required for their implementation;

d organisation of maintenance of accounting records and reporting of a JSC; e hiring and dismissal of JSC employees;

f organising financial and economical operations, conducting clearing transactions, exercising routine control over material assets and cash flow of a JSC;

g determination of remuneration of the employees and officials of JSC subsidiary enterprises, branches and representative offices; and

h submission of an annual report and the balance sheet of a JSC for approval by the general shareholders' meeting, etc.

The directors must act in the best interests of the JSC, in good faith and reasonably, and may not abuse their powers. Should the directors breach their obligations, they shall be jointly and severally liable for any damages thus inflicted on a JSC according to the law.

The directors may be separately or jointly elected or recalled by the council. Contracts with directors should be concluded in the manner established by applicable Ukrainian law and the JSC charter. The chair of the council or a person authorised by the council should sign such contracts on behalf of the JSC.

III DISCLOSURE

Corporate disclosure requirements in Ukraine focus mainly on JSCs that contemplate public or private (or public and private) placement of shares.

The Securities Law and NSMSC regulations establish a detailed list of financial and corporate information to be disclosed by JSCs to the NSMSC and the general public both on a regular (quarterly and annually) and occasional basis. Notably, in 2008 the JSC Law established a general legal requirement for Ukrainian public JSCs to disclose all the information on their activities on the basis of the International Financial Reporting Standards. Also, at the beginning of 2013, the NSMSC established the possibility of information disclosure by security issuers in electronic form. Compliance of a JSC with the statutory disclosure requirements is controlled by the NSMSC, and failure to comply may entail imposition by the NSMSC of a fine upon the JSC.

i Special information

Any JSC is obliged to disclose information on certain events that might affect its financial and business position and might result in a material change in the value of its shares; for example, buy-back of shares, listing or delisting of the shares on a stock exchange, any change in the JSC officers or a decrease in the authorised capital.

ii Regular information

The obligation to disclose information quarterly falls upon (1) JSCs and holding companies where the state holds 25 per cent or more shares; (2) state (national) JSCs; (3) companies whose shares are transferred into the charter capital of a company mentioned in items (1) or (2) (or both); and (4) issuers that contemplate open placement of company bonds, mortgage bonds, mortgage certificates or certificates of real estate operations funds, or any combination of the aforementioned. The information disclosed quarterly consists mainly of general information on the company's corporate activity and quarterly financial reporting. Recently, the NSMSC established the obligation to provide, together with the quarterly information, financial accounts prepared according to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) by securities issuers, which must, by law, prepare their accounts in accordance with such standards.

Annually disclosed information must be disclosed by all JSCs and must include more detailed data on the JSC's corporate activity, including the names and locations of the JSC, its management, business and financial activities, issued securities, annual financial reporting and external auditor's report. It is important to note that the JSC's annual financial reporting is subject to mandatory verification by independent auditors who have free access to all the JSC's documents necessary for conducting such audits.

Under Ukrainian law, external auditors must observe general statutory rules of audit activity and professional qualifications. To guarantee their independence, the law strictly prohibits external auditors from being affiliated to the company, being affiliated with the company's officer or officers, providing consultancy services to the company, or any combination of the aforementioned.

In addition, an audit of the JSC's activities must be carried out upon the demand of shareholders holding more than 10 per cent of the shares, but no more than twice a year. Such audits should be performed at the shareholders' own expense, but the costs may be reimbursed upon a resolution of the general shareholders' meeting.

iii Shareholder's access to specific JSC information

According to the JSC Law, each shareholder has free access to quite an extensive list of documents on JSC activities. The permitted documents must be provided by the JSC's corporate secretary or, in the absence of such, by the board, upon the shareholder's written request, and include the JSC's charter, reporting documents, shares issue prospectuses and the regular information mentioned above.

IV CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Following the economic downturn in 2008 to 2009, major Ukrainian companies and institutions have established or improved risk assessment and management systems by creating more risk officer positions and establishing risk management committees responsible for the organisation and support of risk management processes. In the face of economic recession and financial losses, corporations began to implement more efficient and comprehensive risk management strategies. In practice, major private companies have actively integrated risk management as separate functional divisions. Usually, risk officers and risk committees are appointed by and subordinated to the board or CEO. Companies without special risk officers or bodies vest their executives with the respective functions.

Effective functioning of long-term risk management is based upon strong corporate and ethical standards and principles. In particular, in order to promote sound corporate governance and a risk management culture in a company, its directors must set the 'tone at the top'. The 'tone at the top' principle is usually emphasised within companies in Ukraine. Company leaders normally act as models of corporate behaviour and demand compliance by all employees with the risk and compliance policies introduced by the company. However, a better understanding and the best world experience of the 'tone at the top' are still necessary to help Ukrainian companies perceive long-term aims and mitigate corporate management risks.

In recent years, Ukraine has followed methods to reach the best standards of the European business community and, in particular, its best developments of corporate responsibility. Many private-sector companies try to show loyalty with respect to state standards and demands of society and manage corporate social responsibility in a systematic way as a part of their main activities. Nevertheless, most companies with a significant impact on the economy still show no signs of any tangible corporate social responsibility.

Mainly due to the absence of relevant legislation, Ukraine has no general concept of compliance with corporate responsibility standards. For more than a year, the parliament has been discussing the idea of a legislative framework of corporate responsibility, but still has not implemented it into practice. The discussed matters involve compliance with the principles of international standard ISO 26 000 — Corporate Responsibility.

In the vacuum caused by the lack of legally binding and enforceable corporate social responsibility requirements, few major Ukrainian financial and industrial companies adopt internal codes of conduct, or 'corporate ethics codes', which help them to maintain relationships between management, employees, stakeholders, society and authorities. Many such companies periodically create and disclose non-financial reports related to, among others, working conditions, human capital development, environmental protection, local community engagement or product responsibility. The best Ukrainian practice is shaped by the national leaders in corporate social responsibility, such as System Capital Management, DTEK, Metinvest, ArcelorMittal, and Kyivstar.

Ukrainian authorities encourage companies to adopt internal corporate responsibility rules by endorsing the corporate governance principles approved and recommended by the NSMSC. In addition, several principles of corporate governance and relationship between management and shareholders were recommended for practical application by the Methodological Recommendations for Improvement of Banks Corporate Management adopted by the National Bank of Ukraine; however, due to non-obligatory and out-of-date principles in these documents, Ukrainian JSCs selectively observe their provisions.

V SHAREHOLDERS

i Shareholder rights and powers

Under Ukrainian law, JSCs may issue two types of share: common and preferred. While common shares are widespread on the Ukrainian stock market, preferred shares are quite unusual.

Each common share confers upon its shareholder the same set of rights, in particular voting rights. Voting at the general shareholders' meeting is carried out on the 'one-share, one-vote' basis, except for cumulative voting. Preferred shares voting rights are based on the same equality principles; nevertheless, preferred stock holders have the right to vote on matters of very limited scope related to the rights granted by preferred shares, unless the JSC charter stipulates otherwise.

In Ukraine, the most popular, expeditious and effective form of control over the board is exercised by the council that monitors the performance of the board, evaluates it, and exercises control over and regulates the activities of the latter on a regular basis in order to protect shareholders' rights and interests.

The council meets quite often and undertakes considerable activity with regard to the board. In particular, the exclusive statutory competence of the council includes prior approval of terms and conditions of contracts with board members, determination of their remuneration, election and termination of powers of the chair and members of the board, removal of them from execution of their powers, and election of a board interim chair. Generally, shareholders greatly elaborate powers of the council in the charter in order to have more ability to regulate the day-to-day activities of the board.

Another significant method of control over the board is the general shareholders' meeting. Since the general shareholders' meeting is the highest governing authority of a JSC, it has a statutory right to resolve any matters of JSC activities, including those within the authority of the council and the board; this makes the general shareholders' meeting a powerful instrument to control the board. Nevertheless, in many cases this type of corporate control may be less effective than the council due to its quite onerous and protracted procedure for convocation and holding. Therefore, in practice, most nonexclusive powers of the general shareholders' meeting are often delegated to the council.

Notably, the JSC Law does not specify cases where any board decisions are subject to approval by the general shareholders' meeting, and companies use best practice to include into the charter general shareholders' meetings or council powers to approve significant board decisions, authorise their actions and impose liability on board members.

Under the JSC Law, the general shareholders' meeting has exclusive competence to deal with corporate matters of highest importance that cannot be further delegated, for example:

a determination of the main directions of JSC activity;

b introduction of amendments to the charter;

c change of the authorised capital;

d buyback of shares;

e annulment of redeemed shares;

f changing the company's type;

g shares placement;

h election of council members, prior approval of terms and conditions of agreements with them, determination of their remuneration and termination of their powers;

i decisions on effecting a material transaction (if its value exceeds 25 per cent of the company's assets);

j decisions on reports of the council, the board and the internal audit commission or the auditor; or

k spin-off or termination of the JSC, election of a liquidation commission and approval of liquidation procedures.

The shareholders may supplement the exclusive authority of the general shareholders' meeting in the company's charter.

It should be noted that, for the first time in Ukraine's corporate governance history, the JSC Law introduced a great innovation in the protection of interests of minority shareholders: the concept of dissenters' rights. Under the JSC Law, dissenting holders of the common stock may demand that the JSC repurchase their shares in some circumstances, including:

a merger, takeover, demerger, transformation or spin-off of the JSC, or a change of its type;

b effecting of a material transaction; or c a change in the JSC's authorised capital.

To benefit from such a right, a shareholder has to participate in the general shareholders' meeting resolution on such a matter and vote 'against' the proposed transaction. The share repurchase price must be of a market value and the payment for the shares in cash, unless the JSC and a dissenting shareholder agree otherwise.

The same rights are granted to the holders of preferred stock with regard to preferred shares if they vote 'against' the general shareholders' meeting's resolution on placement of a new class of preferred shares granting to their holders any preference in receiving dividends or payments on the liquidation of the JSC, or extension of rights of preferred stock holders who have preferences in ranking for receiving dividends or payments on the liquidation of the JSC.

ii Shareholders' duties and responsibilities

Under Ukrainian law, all shareholders have equal duties regardless of their status and the number of shares held. Generally, shareholders must:

a abide by the charter and internal regulations of the JSC;

b carry out resolutions of the general shareholders' meeting and other bodies of the JSC;

c perform their obligations to the company, including those related to proprietary participation;

d pay for their shares;

e abstain from disclosing commercial secrets and confidential information about the company's activity; and

f perform other duties provided by applicable Ukrainian law and the charter.

Controlling shareholders have only one additional obligation compared with other shareholders: a person who has acquired more than 50 per cent of common stock must make an irrevocable offer to all remaining shareholders to purchase their common shares. The offer is made through the target company's council or, in absence of the latter, the board, while the NSMSC and the stock exchange on which the shares are listed must be notified of the acquisition.

Shareholder's personal liability is generally limited to the value of the shares held in the JSC. The only exception is established by the Commercial Code of Ukraine. According to its rules, should a shareholder that is a public JSC controlling two or more companies cause the insolvency of a JSC as a result of the shareholder's wilful misconduct, such a shareholder will bear subsidiary liability before the creditors of the insolvent JSC.

Unfortunately, minority shareholders' actions are rarely coordinated in Ukraine; every shareholder pursues its own objectives and interests. This creates opportunities for majority shareholders to infringe upon the minorities' rights and interests.

iii Shareholder activism

Shareholder activism has gained little popularity in Ukraine. Many forms of shareholder activism, such as proxy battles, shareholder campaigns and negotiations with management, are seldom exercised because of uncoordinated interests and actions ofminority shareholders.

The main form of shareholder activism in Ukraine is commenced through litigation. Shareholders can generally only bring claims to courts in cases of direct violations of their rights and legitimate interests, and Ukrainian law does not stipulate derivative actions (bringing a claim or claims in the interests of the company).

According to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated 24 October 2008 No. 13, the law does not stipulate the right of shareholders (participants) to apply to court for the protection of the rights or legally protected interests of the company beyond the representation relations. The Supreme Court recommended that commercial courts dismiss shareholders' (participants') cases related to the execution, amendment, cancellation or invalidation of contracts and other deals entered into by companies if there is no violation of shareholders' (participants') corporate rights.

In addition, Ukraine does not have any special law on pay rules. The JSC Law protects the interests of the JSC from overpaying its directors by setting a default rule stipulating that the directors' remuneration is at the exclusive discretion of the council and is to be set by this body. The Law says that the pay issue cannot be delegated to other JSC officers or corporate bodies, the only exception being the general shareholders' meeting, which, as the highest governing authority of a JSC, can resolve any corporate matter.

iv Contact with shareholders

Historically, disclosure of information by JSCs to their shareholders has been restricted. Only a small number of controlling shareholders have any real access to JSC information via the council or the board. This situation changed after the JSC Law came into force and established a few mandatory levels of access to information and files on JSC activities.

First, the council, internal audit commission or the auditor and the board must report to the shareholders at least once a year at the annual general shareholders' meeting. Second, the JSC Law guarantees free access to all shareholders to quite a broad statutory list of documents on JSC activity. Such documents must be provided by a JSC to a shareholder upon written request. Third, a public JSC is obliged to have a dedicated website where all the publicly disclosed and other required statutory information should be placed. Fourth, the JSC Law introduced a JSC's obligation to have a corporate secretary as an officer who is responsible for communications between a JSC with its shareholders. Finally, the Securities Law and NSMSC regulations established specific disclosure requirements related to a JSC's regular and special information.

It should be noted that there is as yet no best practice on carrying out the disclosure obligations under the JSC Law. Considering past practices of non-transparency in corporate activities and non-disclosure of information, even where specific disclosure requirements were set out by law, there is a reasonable possibility that some new disclosure provisions of the JSC Law and the Securities Law may be violated and that there may be a lack enforcement in practice by majority shareholders and boards.

In addition, another very important source of information on the company's activities is its top management. Even despite Ukrainian law, which stipulates the equality of shareholders' access to information and establishes liability for wrongful treatment of insider information, in practice controlling shareholders often organise unofficial meetings and communications with the company's management to get inside knowledge or to stay up to date on all the company's latest activities, or both.

The JSC Law clearly defines the terms of notice on holding the general shareholders' meeting and the scope of information to be included therein. The notice must be sent to each shareholder or to a nominal holder (in the case of registration of shares in its name) personally in written form not later than 30 days prior to the day of holding a general shareholders' meeting and shall include the agenda thereof. Additionally, the JSC is obliged to publish in the NSMSC's official printed matter the notice on holding the general shareholders' meeting within the mentioned period. Any further changes in the agenda should be brought to the shareholders' notice. Starting from the day of sending the notice to the shareholders, a JSC must provide them with an opportunity to become acquainted with all the documents and information they may need in order to make decisions at the general shareholders' meeting.

Proxy solicitation is not typical for Ukraine, and therefore there are no special rules regulating this procedure. In most cases, proxy solicitation is exercised by management of large public JSCs with thousands of shareholders who do not attend the general shareholders' meeting for purposes of voting.

VI OUTLOOK

Adoption of the JSC Law in 2008 was a significant step forward in bringing Ukrainian corporate governance up to best international practice standards. Nevertheless, the application of the JSC Law in the years 2009 through 2012 shows that it is still not perfect and has some gaps in regulating JSC activities. This caused global legislative activity on improving the JSC Law. A host of bills to amend the JSC Law went through the Parliament, and there are more still to come. The latest progressive change to the JSC Law — the Law of Ukraine on Improving Regulation of Joint-stock companies — was passed by Parliament in February 2011 and became fully effective in January 2012. Recently, another bill on introduction of amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding improvement of regulation of JSCs has been developed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and submitted for consideration by the Parliament.

An important legislative initiative is soon expected from the NSMSC. The regulator is carrying out in-depth research of best corporate governance practices and working on a major bill, in particular, to introduce a minority shareholder squeeze-out procedure for a JSC. The absence of the squeeze-out worsens the position of good-faith majority shareholders who often suffer from frivolous actions of dissenting minority shareholders. Also, the NSMSC is considering introduction of a derivative lawsuit to allow a shareholder to directly protect a JSC's interests by bringing a claim on behalf of the company.

In addition, a number of clarifications have been approved and drafted by the NSMSC in pursuit of the removal of a number of deficiencies and contradictions in the JSC Law on the regulatory level through the interpretation of the methods of application of certain rules contained therein. Although NSMSC clarifications are of an advisory nature, usually they reflect quite a progressive official opinion on JSC issues and are highly anticipated by the stock exchange market players.