Submission of GIS to SEC extended

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted companies more leeway in complying with regulatory requirements in light of new quarantine restrictions.

The SEC has extended the deadline for companies to submit their general information sheets (GIS) as they cope with the new rounds of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and the transition to an online submission system.

All stock and non-stock corporations shall have 90 days from the date of the annual stockholders’ meeting or annual members’ meeting fixed in their bylaws or as determined by the board of directors to submit their GIS, the SEC said in a notice on March 31.

A company whose annual meeting was on March 30 would have until June 28 to submit its GIS. Meanwhile, a corporation originally due to submit the report on or before March 12 will have an additional 60 days or until May 11 to comply with the requirement.

The adjusted deadline applies to stock corporations, which held their annual stockholders’ meetings prior and during the enrollment period for the newly launched SEC online submission tool (OST), the SEC said.

Stock corporations are required to enroll in and submit their annual reports through the OST starting this year. The enrollment period opened last March 15 and will close on Dec. 15.

Non-stock corporations have until 2022 to enroll in and shift to OST.

The SEC will allow over-the-counter submissions for stock corporations, which encountered problems during their enrollment and submission in OST.

Accordingly, such corporations will have until April 30 to submit their GIS through the OST for stock corporations or over the counter for non-stock corporations.