Under the earlier provisions, it was mandatory for corporates to publish thequarterly unaudited results in two media dailies - one in English dailyand another in a regional news daily.

It has been made mandatory and part of clause 49 of the Stock ExchangeListing Agreement, under which some of the recommendations of the Committeeon Corporate Governance chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla, has beenincorporated.

The circular is based on a Sebi meeting of January 25, where the committee'ssuggestions on corporate governance, audit committee and broader issues likeboard procedures and management. Some of the provisions included underclause 49 of the listing agreement, will be non-mandatory while the restwill be binding.

A circular issued in February by Sebi and signed by its executive directorPratip Kar, says: "The company further agrees that information likequarterly results, presentation made by companies to analysts shall be puton company's web-site, or shall be sent in such a form so as to enable thestock exchange on which the company is listed to be put it on its ownweb-site".

According to the circular, Sebi has set certain cut-off dates forimplementation of its directives based on the company's turnover and profile.Corporates listed either in group A of the Bombay Stock Exchange or at S&PCNX Nifty index as on January 1, 2000, will have to comply with the newlyincorporated provisions within financial year 2000-01 and latest by March31, 2001. The circular says that companies with a paid-up share capital ofRs 10 crore and above or with a networth of Rs 25 crore or more, will haveto comply with the provisions by fiscal 2001-02 and latest by March 31,2002.

Corporates with a Rs 3 crore paid-up share capital will have to comply withthe provisions latest by March 31, 2003 and during fiscal 2002-03.Annexure 2 of the circular states the suggested list of items to be includedin the report on corporate governance in the annual report of the companies.The list includes among others, the mode of communication of the financialsof the company to its share-holders. However, Annexure 3 of the circular hasnoted that the sending of half-yearly declaration of financial performanceincluding summary of the significant events in the last six months to thehousehold of shareholders is a non-mandatory requirement.