THE Monetary Authority of Singapore is looking to introduce mandatory annual general meetings for real estate investments trusts in a bid to improve disclosure.
MAS has released a consultation paper on a proposal to amend the Property Fund Guidelines to mandate that REITs hold AGMs which is currently a voluntary exercise.
Under the proposal, REITs will be required to hold AGMs once every calendar year and not more than 15 months from the last preceding AGM. In line with the Singapore Stock Exchange’s rule on the timing of AGMs for other listed issuers, REITs will have to hold their AGMs within four months from their financial year end.
MAS said mandatory AGMs will enhance corporate governance for REITs by providing an important channel for communication between fund managers and unitholders, and for REIT managers to be more accountable to unitholders.
“AGMs will provide a regular opportunity for REIT managers to seek general mandates from unitholders for issuance of new units and thus accord greater flexibility for equity raising,” it concluded.
Australian Property Journal
