The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines has extended the deadline for amnesty applications for late and non-filing of annual financial statements (AFS), general information sheets (GIS), and official email addresses and mobile phone numbers.
Eligible companies now have until June 30 to complete their amnesty applications. Additionally, applicants will have 90 days, instead of 45 days, from the date of payment to submit their latest due financial statements.
The Commission granted the extension through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 6, Series of 2023, issued on April 25.
The SEC had launched the amnesty program for noncompliant corporations, as well as those whose certificates of registration have been suspended or revoked, for their failure to submit their AFS and GIS on time, in mid-March through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 2, Series of 2023.
The amnesty program is part of the Commission’s efforts to encourage its supervised entities to comply with their reportorial requirements under Republic Act No. 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.
Compliance with these requirements will enable the SEC to identify active and inactive corporations accurately, enhance and organize its digital database for better monitoring and enforcement, and foster a healthy and vibrant corporate sector.
With numerous companies expressing interest in the amnesty program and given the overlap in the deadlines for submitting similar requirements to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the SEC, the Commission deemed it necessary to allow eligible companies more time to avail of the amnesty.
Following the extended deadline of June 30, an updated scale of fines and penalties for the covered reportorial requirements will be implemented.
This move by the SEC aims to provide noncompliant corporations with an opportunity to rectify their previous failures while ensuring that corporations adhere to their reporting responsibilities in the future.
The extended deadline and the increased time to submit financial statements after payment are expected to aid more companies in availing of the amnesty program and ultimately improving compliance within the corporate sector. – BusinessNewsAsia.com