In a move to make publicly traded Isle of Man companies more competitive, the Isle of Man has introduced regulations to permit publicly traded companies to purchase and hold a maximum of 10 per cent of their own shares in treasury.

The regulations, which came into effect on 1 May 2010, give a company the ability to reduce the costs of capital maintenance as it can repurchase and hold shares as treasury shares, instead of having to cancel the shares on repurchase.

Allan Bell, MHK, Minister for Economic Development, commented, "These regulations illustrate the ways in which the Isle of Man Government is developing its regulations to enable businesses to conduct their affairs in a more efficient and competitive manner.

"The change will help to make publicly traded companies on the Island more competitive which we welcome."

Anne Craine, MHK, Treasury Minister, said "I am very pleased that we were able to move ahead with the introduction of these Regulations. It is a progressive development that should assist the industry by making the Isle of Man a more attractive place for investors to do business.

"Treasury together with the Department of Economic Development is keen to work with all areas of the Finance Sector to promote the Island and its reputation and this is a good example of the success of our working partnership."

Jeremy Bridle, Fund Management Association, said, "Following industry requests, the regulatory sub-committee confirmed the need and advantages provided by these new regulations and is pleased that the Policy Division of the Financial Supervision Commission were able to draft and implement the new legislation in a timely manner."

The regulations aim to provide for occasions when companies find that they have distributable reserves in excess of their needs. Purchasing and holding shares in treasury is one way that a company can use these excess reserves. A company can dispose of treasury shares either by transferring them to an employee share scheme or by selling these on the markets at some future date.

While shares are held by a company in treasury, these shares are stripped of all rights (including voting and dividend rights) and are not taken into account in the calculation of earnings per share. As soon as the company disposes of the shares, all rights are restored to the shares.

The Treasury Share Regulation Consultation Document can be found on the FSC's website at: www.fsc.gov.im/doclibrary/condocs.xml.

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