The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set the deadlines for the submission of the annual financial statements (AFS) and general information sheets (GIS) of corporations in 2024.
The commission on Jan. 27 issued SEC Memorandum Circular No. 2, Series of 2024, which provides the 2024 filing of annual financial statements and GIS.
All stock and nonstock corporations are required to submit their annual reports online through the SEC Electronic Filing and Submission Tool (eFAST) at efast.sec.gov.ph.
The SEC said it would not accept submissions over the counter and through courier, in line with the zero-contact policy and automation of business-related transactions mandated by Republic Act No. 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
All corporations, including branch offices, representative offices, regional headquarters and regional operating headquarters of foreign corporations whose fiscal years ended on Dec. 31, 2023 should file their AFS according to a schedule based on the last digit of their respective registration or license number.
It said a corporation whose fiscal year ended on a date other than Dec. 31, 2023 should file its AFS within 120 calendar days from the end of its fiscal year.
The SEC said the annual report of a broker dealer whose fiscal year ended on Dec. 31 should be filed on April 30, while those with fiscal years ending on a date other than December 31 should file their reports 120 calendar days after the close of their respective fiscal years.
Corporations whose securities are listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), those whose securities are registered but not listed on the PSE, those considered as public companies and those covered under Section 17.2 of Republic Act No. 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code (SRC), are required to file their AFS within 105 calendar days after the end of their respective fiscal years, as an attachment to their annual reports.
Corporations whose AFS are being audited by the Commission on Audit (COA) are exempted from the deadlines, provided they attach to their AFS a duly signed affidavit attesting that they timely provided the COA with the financial statements and supporting documents and that the COA audit has just been concluded, as well as a letter from the COA confirming such information.
The SEC said failure to follow the formal requirements prescribed under Revised SRC Rule 68 woould be considered a sufficient ground for the imposition of penalties by the SEC.
