NASDAQ OMX ARMENIA CONDUCTS INVESTOR RELATIONS SEMINAR, SORPORATE GOVERNANCE WORKSHOP
ARKA
June 23, 2009
YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. The Investor Relations and Corporate
Governance seminars were organized in Yerevan jointly by NASDAQ OMX
Armenia and the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS), a program
run by USAID and the East-West Management Institute.
As ARKA was told in the department of marketing and communications
of the NASDAQ OMX Armenia, as one of its primary objectives, the PFS
Program assists countries in Central and Eastern Europe to accelerate
financial sector development and reform based on best practices
as well as international standards, promoting integration into the
European and international economic systems.
The Investor Relations (IR) seminar held on June 17 gathered nearly 60
representatives of all capital market stakeholder groups, including
issuers listed and admitted to trading on NASDAQ OMX Armenia, stock
exchange member banks and investment companies, business journalists,
as well as the Central Bank of Armenia.
Speakers, both local and invited from the United States, Poland, and
Estonia, covered a variety of topics such as importance of IR in modern
corporate environment, IR development trends in Europe in the past two
decades, information disclosure requirements that exist in European
countries and Armenia, channels and tools used for communicating with
investors, Baltic market experience in promoting the development of
the com panies’ IR function and rewarding IR outperformers.
A survey of websites of Armenian companies listed or admitted to
trading on NASDAQ OMX Armenia was also presented, focusing on how
their online IR practices compare to those of peers in various European
and CIS countries.
It was concluded that, even though investor relations is a relatively
new area of activities in Armenia, it is not neglected by Armenian
companies and will continue to receive increasing attention from
businesses that want to raise capital in the market.
The Corporate Governance workshop was held on June 19, 2009
and was attended by over 20 participants, primarily financial
journalists. During the workshop a corporate governance case study
was presented, which helped emphasize the importance of transparency
and good governance practices in companies.
Evidence from multiple sources was used to demonstrate that investors
worldwide are prepared to pay a premium for the securities of companies
that are governed in an accountable and transparent manner. The
second presentation, specially designed for journalists, provided an
overview of principles and best practices to follow when reporting on
topics related to corporate governance. The role of media in making
the general public aware of potential issues related to governance
practices in companies, as well as in providing insightful and
impartial coverage of all related topics was stressed.
Having received v ery positive feedback regarding both events,
NASDAQ OMX Armenia foresees that they will promote good governance
practices and strengthen investor rights protection in Armenia, thus
assisting the Armenian companies in attracting more capital for their
development needs.
In January 2008, Nordic exchange operator OMX Group acquired 100%
of shares of the Armenian Stock Exchange (Armex) and the Central
Depository of Armenia (CDA). After the combination of NASDAQ and OMX
in February 2008, Armex and CDA have become fully owned by the NASDAQ
OMX Group, Inc.
On January 27, 2009, "Armenian Stock Exchange" OJSC was officially
renamed as "NASDAQ OMX Armenia" OJSC. On June 5, 2009, "NASDAQ OMX
Armenia" OJSC became the owner of 100% of the shares of the "Central
Depository of Armenia" OJSC.