SEC sets submission deadline for annual reports

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set the deadlines for the submission of the annual financial statements (AFS) and general information sheets (GIS) of corporations next year.

As stated in the SEC’s Memorandum Circular No. 9, all stock and non-stock corporations are required to submit their annual reports through the SEC Electronic Filing and Submission Tool (eFAST).

The regulator will not accept submissions passed over the counter or through courier as part of its zero face-to-face transaction policy.

The schedule of AFS submission will be based on the last digit of a corporation’s license number excluding those whose fiscal year ends on a date other than Dec. 31.

For corporations with license numbers ending in 1 or 2, the submission is on May 2 to 5, while those ending in 3 or 4 are to submit from May 8 to 12.

For license numbers ending in 5 or 6, the submission is on May 15 to 19, while for those ending in 7 or 8, the submission is on May 22 to 26. License numbers ending in 9 or 0 are to submit on May 29 to June 2.

“Corporations may submit their reports on or before their respective filing dates,” the regulator said.

Meanwhile, corporations with fiscal years not ending on Dec. 31 are required to file their AFS within 120 calendar days from the end of their fiscal year.

For broker-dealers, their annual reports are required to be submitted depending on the last digit of their registration number except for those with fiscal years ending on a date other than Dec. 31 who are required to file within 110 days after the close of their fiscal years.

Listed companies, non-listed companies and companies covered under the Securities and Regulation Code (SRC) are required to file their AFS within 105 calendar days after their fiscal year as an attachment to their annual report.

On the other hand, corporations whose AFS is audited by the Commission on Audit (CoA) are exempted from the coding schedule but are required to attach a duly signed affidavit attesting that they timely provided the auditor with their statements and a CoA confirmation letter.

“Corporations which submitted their reports late will be subject to the prescribed penalties computed from the last date of the aforementioned filing schedule,” the SEC said.

The regulator said that it would accept late filings starting on June 5, 2023 and clarified that corporations that will fail to follow the requirements can be penalized in accordance with the SRC.

Meanwhile, the corporations’ GIS must be filed within 30 calendar days after their actual annual stockholders’ meeting and from the anniversary date of the issuance of the SEC license for foreign companies.

The GIS forms can be downloaded from the SEC website except for one-person corporations, non-stock corporations, branch offices of foreign corporations, and regional headquarters of multinational companies.

The SEC will no longer require the submission of hard copies of reports passed through eFAST but reverted reports are considered not filed or received.

The regulator will accept submissions through eFAST regardless of content unless they have poor image quality, horizontal image orientation, wrong company profile, or wrong coverage period. — Justine Irish D. Tabile