NOW, BSE ROUND THE CLOCK ALERTS

Right from board meeting outcomes to regulatory actions, investors are now getting updates about BSE-listed companies even at midnight with a new corporate announcement filing system where the delay in dissemination is less than 10 seconds. Moving away from the earlier practice of "pre- verification", the exchange is seeking to provide price sensitive information about companies at the earliest with the new system. Now, most filings by listed firms on the BSE come with two sets of timings and their difference shows the gap in dissemination of the information by the exchange after receiving the information from the entity concerned. A cursory glance at the timings of filings on the bourse shows that some of them have come even close to midnight, making the dissemination almost a round-the-clock affair. Under the new system, introduced last month, corporate announcements would be disseminated "without pre- verification", according to the BSE. "Corporate Announcement Filing System will be operated 365 days and 24 by 7 to provide up to date, timely, accurate information to the investors and also to news agencies at the fastest possible speed," the exchange said last month. Presently, the delay between reports by the company and availability of the information on website varies from 2 to 10 seconds in most cases, as per the BSE. A slew of corporate announcements, including those related to outcome of board meetings, postal ballot, change in directorate, regulatory action and business updates, have been brought under the dissemination system. More than 5,000 companies are listed on the BSE. "Post dissemination on the website, the exchange would carry out the verification checks for adequacy and accuracy as mandated by Sebi from time to time, as is being done at present," BSE had said. Filings made by companies, under the relevant Sebi norms, are key takeaways for investors as they track developments at a particular entity.