SEC to penalize firms’ inaccurate, false reports
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be imposing penalties for any inaccuracy and incompleteness in any reportorial requirements submitted by corporations starting Nov. 2.
“Any inaccuracy, incompleteness, false or misleading information in the submitted reports shall be penalized accordingly,” the SEC said.
According to the notice, the penalty will range from P20,000 to P200,000 for the person who will certify the report while knowing about the inaccuracies.
Meanwhile, the auditor or any other person responsible may also be punished with a fine ranging from P40,000 to P400,000, if the certification is deemed to be “injurious or detrimental to the public.”
The SEC said its Electronic Records Management Division will accept all reports filed in the Electronic Filing and Submission Tool (e-FAST) regardless of the forms and contents.
The regulator’s Compliance Monitoring Division (CMD) will then conduct its necessary diligence to ensure that the authorized representatives of the companies with inaccurate reports “shall be held liable for the corresponding penalty imposed.”
The CMD or other operating departments monitoring the reports will be the ones to penalize any inaccurate, incomplete, false, or misleading information found in the submitted reports.
“No reports shall be returned to the filers for correction. Amendments shall no longer be allowed unless directed by the commission,” the SEC said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
