SEC: About 300,000 firms at risk of being under deliquency status

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 300,000 corporations are at risk of being placed under delinquent status by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC in a recent notice called on 298,335 corporations to avail of its amnesty program to avoid being placed under delinquent status.

Based on its records as of Oct. 12, the SEC said these corporations failed to submit their general information sheet (GIS) for three times consecutively or intermittently within a five-year period.

The Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines (RCC) provides that every corporation, domestic or foreign, doing business in the Philippines must submit to the SEC annual financial statements and a GIS, among other reportorial requirements, annually and within such period as may be prescribed by the commission.

The RCC provides that the SEC may place a corporation under delinquent status should they fail to submit their reportorial requirements three times, consecutively or intermittently, within a period of five years.

“In this light, they are advised to avail of the SEC amnesty program before they are placed under delinquent status pursuant to Section 177 of the RCC,” the SEC said.

To avail of amnesty, the SEC said a corporation must file an online expression of interest to avail of amnesty on or before November 6, 2023, as well as its latest due annual financial statement and GIS on or before Dec. 4, 2023.

The SEC said it would finalize the list of corporations placed under delinquent status after the amnesty program.

The SEC’s amnesty program is meant to encourage corporations and other regulated entities that have pending reportorial requirements to correct their delinquencies and become responsible corporate citizens.

The SEC earlier granted a final one-month extension up to Nov. 6 for amnesty applications of non-compliant and suspended or revoked corporations before it implements a new scale of fines and penalties.