SEC & PSE Rules
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) both ease their rules and requirements in order to address the current situation of the country. This is a move to mitigate the efforts of anyone who is transacting with these corporate regulators. As part of the movement, SEC already approved a memorandum circular to extend the schedule of disclosure of annual reports for companies that are publicly listed. The deadline is now until June 30. This is applicable only to businesses and companies with domestic operations. Those that have foreign operations, they can still submit until June 30 or 60 days after the lifting of travel restrictions, whichever is later.
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Stock Smarts Manila: March 14, 15, 21, 22 & 28, 2020
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SEC Rules Adjusted
The quarterly reports filing is also adjusted. SEC emphasized that those businesses that are not affected by COVID-19 in preparation of their financial statements are still mandated to file their annual reports or audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, within the period stated in the existing rules and regulations. The adjustments are only for those entities that are challenged to follow the rules and regulations due to the pandemic. SEC gave an example such as the travel restrictions, suspension of business operations, and measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19 kept companies from collecting all information or papers needed to prepare and audit the annual financial statements. This is especially for companies with operations in China.
SEC Will Continue To Assess The Situation
According to the corporate regulator, it will continue to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 with regards to the preparation of financial statements and completion of the statutory audits of companies. Appropriate rules may be issued to address the situation in the future. Companies may also ask the office to extend in case the given extension is not sufficient. They may write a letter to the SEC at least 5 days prior to the deadline.
PSE Rules Adjusted
In line with the movement of SEC to adjust its rules, PSE did the same by emphasizing what SEC has done but urged the companies to keep on disclosing material information timely. According to PSE, the cut-off for corporate disclosures is by 1:30 PM at the Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (EDGE) platform. Anything that a company will disclose after the cut-off will be posted on the following day. This deadline will take effect until April 14. Shortened trading hours will also be observed from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
