SEC sets 2-year limit for delinquent firms to comply with requirements

MANILA, Philippines - Thousands of companies in danger of getting purged from the registry of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were given more time to comply with documentary requirements.

The two-year ultimatum will allow companies to fix their deficiencies, or their registration will be permanently revoked.

In a public notice following an en banc meeting, the SEC said it “resolved to grant covered corporations a non-extendable period of two years from Dec. 31, 2013 until Dec. 31, 2015 within which to file their petitions to set aside the order of revocation of the commission.”
“Failure to file the said petition within the given period shall mean that the order or revocation can no longer be lifted not set aside,” the SEC added.

From 2002 to 2013, the corporate watchdog issued numerous orders of revocation for firms that failed to comply with reportorial requirements.

For instance, the SEC published in April the names of more than 7,300
companies that were non-compliant with their reportorial duties.

“All affected corporations are hereby advised to verify their status and file their petitions with supporting documents with the Compliance Monitoring Division of the Company Registration and Monitoring Department of the SEC,” the agency said.

However, covered corporations with an ongoing intra-corporate dispute between two or more groups claiming ownership or right will be given more leeway to comply.

“The running of the period to lift the order of their revocation shall be tolled until the finality of a court decision,” the SEC said.