Given the role of Warsaw Stock Exchange on the Polish financial market and its responsibility for developing the highest standards of corporate governance and communication, the Company is involved in activities which build the corporate culture and good behaviour of participants of the Polish capital market.
Best Practice and Corporate Governance
The key objective of WSE in this area is to create and promote best practice of corporate governance for public companies. Since 2002, the Exchange has promoted the corporate governance rules by continuously developing and disseminating the Code of Best Practice for WSE Listed Companies designed to strengthen the transparency of exchange-listed companies, reinforce the protection of shareholders’ rights and improve the quality of communication between companies and investors. Subsequent amendments of the rules included in the Code have been drafted to bring them in line with amendments of legal regulations, current international trends of corporate governance, as well as evolving needs and expectations of market participants.
The most recently amended version of the Code of Best Practice for WSE Listed Companies is effective as of 1 January 2013 and focuses in particular on enabling the exercise of voting rights at general meetings using means of electronic communication as well as providing audio or video recordings of general meetings.
In 2013, important steps were taken to improve the quality of investor relations and safety of WSE’s alternative markets. Amendments to the ATS Rules effective as of March and June 2013 largely expanded the disclosure obligations of companies listed on NewConnect and Catalyst and the range of sanctions for non-compliance and imposed stricter requirements on Authorised Advisers. Importantly, the 2013 reform on WSE’s alternative markets was carried out in consultation and co-operation with the community of investors and other market participants; the final modifications took into consideration the proposals of investors’ organisations and groupings (Association of Individual Investors, StockWatch.pl) as well as comments from Authorised Advisers.
The Exchange also promotes the highest corporate governance standards among foreign investors. In spring 2013, WSE organised the WSE IR Leader 2012 and NewConnect IR Leader 2012 competitions for foreign companies listed on the stock markets in order to identify companies with the best investor relations. The competition winners were awarded in June at the fourth edition of the WSE International Companies’ Forum, yet another initiative of WSE designed to strengthen professional open relations between foreign issuers listed on WSE and investors. The Forum has been regularly organised by WSE since 2011.
Warsaw Stock Exchange also offers WSE EDU-Partner Best Practice and WSE IR Partner programmes. The former was established in 2008 and selects partners in education across the country who are actively involved in the development of corporate governance in Poland. The list of WSE EDU-Partners currently includes 7 entities.
WSE IR Partners are those media and portals which are strongly involved in the development of investor relations of public companies and the creation of best conditions enabling effective communication between companies and investors. The programme had 3 members at the end of 2013.
WSE also offers a special online service devoted to best practice and corporate governance: www.corp-gov.gpw.pl.
Dialogue with Stakeholders
WSE’s business decisions may have a material impact on other participants of the capital market; hence, the Company consults with stakeholder groups on developments which affect the markets.
In view of the replacement of the trading system to UTP as of 15 April 2013, WSE held several meetings with representatives of brokerage houses. The meetings provided a platform for the exchange of status reports on the implementation of the new technology and for discussions on the optimal date of availability of the new system. The consultations helped to set a date which allowed for effective implementation of the new technology while avoiding risks to the safety and continuity of trading on the exchange.
Similarly, consultations were carried out with respect to the timetable of exchange trading sessions. In Q1 2013, WSE appointed a Working Group for the Trading Session Timetable and Introduction of Evening Trading, which comprised representatives of the Company’s main stakeholder groups. As a result, the duration of the exchange trading session was temporarily shortened as of 15 April 2013.
In 2013, the Company decided to appoint WSE Consultation Committees as standing advisory bodies for matters concerning the activity of WSE. The Committees are comprised of representatives of different communities present on the Polish capital market: investors, issuers, brokerage houses, funds, research institutions, lawyers, and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Consulting the Exchange’s business decisions with the Committees ensures the development of optimal solutions for all of WSE’s stakeholder groups.
As at the end of 2013, WSE had the following Committees:
- WSE Exchange Indices Committee
- WSE Science Committee
- Best Practice Committee
- Derivatives Market Committee
- Debt Market Committee
- Equities Market Committee
- WSE Strategy Commitee
The Committees held 17 meetings in aggregate in 2013. The solutions developed by WSE based on the work of the Committees and the social consultations include the introduction of the WIG30 index in September 2013 and amendments to regulations designed to eliminate the issue of penny stocks of companies listed on the WSE Main Market.
Capital Warsaw
WSE works on integrating capital market participants around joint educational, cultural and social initiatives. In 2013, the Exchange launched the Capital Warsaw project addressed to the inhabitants and visitors of the Polish capital city. The idea of the project is to promote knowledge about the exchange and the capital market and to familiarise the general public with their functions while emphasising the role of Warsaw as the financial hub of the region of Central and Eastern Europe.
Under this initiative, the Exchange sponsors culture, education and sports. In 2013, two concerts were held: a performance of Lech Janerka and Les Tambours du Bronx which inaugurated the project, and the concert Traces in Black and White; the educational project WSETr@der was launched (it is a demo learning platform for investors interested in WIG20 and mWIG40 futures, stock futures and fx futures); an exhibition of shares of companies listed on the pre-war exchange was opened. In December 2013, as part of the initiative, WSE organised a three-day Capital Market Summit which gathered nearly 3,500 guests who attended a dozen lectures about the exchange.