Release of Oilcorp's Auditor Report
Why did Bursa wait for two working days?

BURSA Malaysia sat on a report prepared by Oilcorp Bhd's auditors for two days before asking the company to put it out, raising questions if the regulator has not acted fast enough.

Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng (BTMH), the external auditors for Oilcorp which had raised the alarm on the company's 2007 accounts, had on July 11 sent a 10-page statement clarifying its stand to Oilcorp. It also sent a copy of the statement to the stock exchange on the same day.

But it was not until late evening on July 16 that the auditors' statement was released in a Bursa Malaysia announcement. This means a delay of two working days since July 11 was a Friday and the announcement was posted on Wednesday night the following week.

BTMH, which is now locked in a bitter dispute with its client, has made stunning revelations in the report and it is crucial that minority shareholders get this information as soon as they can.

This is because they are supposed to decide at a special meeting today, whether they will support a proposal by two of its major shareholders to oust BTMH as its auditors. The meeting will also decide if Oilcorp will appoint Messrs Horwath to replace BTMH.

In its reply to Business Times, Bursa Malaysia said that it received a copy of BTMH report on July 11. It also acknowledged that the report contained material information.

"BTMH's written representation was sent to Oilcorp and copied to Bursa Securities on July 11," Bursa told Business Times.

"As the report contained material information and no announcement was made by Oilcorp in accordance with the Listing Requirements, Bursa requested the company to make an immediate announcement of the report. The announcement was made by Oilcorp on July 16," it added.

However, the stock exchange did not say why it had to wait for two days before doing so.

The stock exchange also said its representative will attend Oilcorp's special shareholder meeting today.