With the approach of the dates for holding General Meetings and other meetings of the Board of Directors, the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF), in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19 ), urged on March 30, 2020 issuers of securities listed on the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) to favor meetings by videoconference.

This recommendation results from a statement by Mr. Ripert Bossoukpe Secretary General of CREPMF to the attention of the population of WAMU, partners and financial market players.

The CREPMF also recommended to listed companies “the publication in the official stock exchange (BOC) of the BRVM of the voting forms on the draft resolutions of these meetings in accordance with the legal provisions and if their statutes allow it”.

Still concerning companies issuing securities listed on the BRVM, the Secretary General of the CREPMF asks them to contact the management and intermediation companies (SGI) for any useful advice aimed at exploring the possibilities offered by the legal and regulatory framework.

With regard to investors, the CREPMF wished to draw their attention to the fact that the coronavirus pandemic, like several other factors, could impact the prices of securities and therefore the return on investments. "It is difficult to assess, at this stage, the extent of the impacts on issuers of listed securities", underlines the CREPMF. In this context, the financial market regulator recommended that investors “keep calm in their investment decisions and strategies and give priority to discussions on the development of the situation with authorized market intermediaries”.

With regard to the latter, the CREPMF invites them to temporarily limit human presence in the workplace except in cases of extreme necessity. Approved intermediaries are asked to give preference, within the framework of customer relationship management, to telephone, fax and e-mail exchanges for the transmission of stock market orders, etc., the use of bank transfers or any other means electronic payment method regularly accepted instead of physical cash deposits and withdrawals.

As part of the activities on the sites of the intermediaries, the CREPMF recommended teleworking or, failing that, the use of essential personnel while adopting health, safety and conflict of interest prevention measures.