THE Shanghai Stock Exchange has extended the time range, during which listed companies are allowed to make public statements, improving timely disclosure and bringing the exchange more in line with international practices.

    Under the current arrangement, multiple announcements can be published together. Traders have complained it takes too long for the exchange to publish them. During the peak corporate earnings season, some statements are not published until midnight.

    Starting June 1, companies will be allowed to disclose information between 7:30-8:30 a.m. and from 11:30-12:30 during the market’s midday break, the exchange said in a statement published in its website late Sunday.

    Companies will also be permitted to publish statements through the exchange from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on a single non-trading day, or on the last of a series of two or more non-trading days, such as a public holiday, the exchange said.

    Information disclosure in these periods could include requests to suspend share trading, clarification of market talk and notifications of new contracts being signed, it said.

    Currently, companies send their statements to the exchange for publication after the market closes at 3 p.m. and the same time of a single non-trading day or of the last of a series of non-trading days. (SD-Agencies)