KEY POINTS:
The NZX plans to relax rules which require companies to provide shareholders with full-sized glossy annual reports.
The regulations proposed by the NZX will bring it into line with amendments to the Companies Act.
Listed companies will still be required to supply shareholders with a document which includes key financial information.
They will also be required to make a full annual report available to shareholders online, or in hard copy if it is requested.
The amendment would "lower the compliance costs associated with the dissemination of a company's annual report and give shareholders a concise summary of the complex information contained within an annual report," said NZX head of market services Elaine Campbell.
The legislation was specific about what the company must say.
It was also likely that a company which opted for this format would supply some other documentation "to pitch its story to shareholders".
The documents would also make it clear where a full report was available, electronically or in hard copy, if that was preferred, Campbell said.
The revisions would be helpful for smaller companies trying to reduce compliance costs although it was possible even bigger companies may take advantage of the change.
In the end the companies would have to do what their shareholders demanded, Campbell said.
"But some shareholders may prefer to receive annual reports electronically."
