Over 22K firms urged to apply for amnesty

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday called on some 22,402 firms to avail of an amnesty program to avoid the loss of their certificates of incorporation.

A list of companies that had failed to submit their general information sheets (GIS) within five years of the dates of their incorporation was issued by the regulator.

«In this light, they are advised to avail of the SEC amnesty program before their certificates of incorporation are revoked pursuant to Section 21 of the RCC (Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines),» the SEC said.

Eligible corporations have until November 6 to file online expressions of interest to avail of amnesty.

Petition to lift revocation orders, along with the latest GIS and annual financial statements (AFS), must be submitted on or before December 4.

«The list of corporations with revoked certificates of incorporation will be finalized after the amnesty program,» the commission said.

Section 17 of the RCC mandates reportorial requirements for all local and foreign firms that do business in the country, including the submission of AFS and GIS, annually and within such period as may be prescribed.

SEC Memorandum Circular 17, Series of 2023, recently extended the amnesty application to November 6 to give corporations more time to apply and pay the corresponding fees.

"[S]uch extension is a compassionate allowance for noncompliant, suspended or revoked corporations to update their corporate status or, otherwise, be subjected to higher fines and penalties for certain reportorial requirements," the SEC order states.

The amnesty program had an earlier deadline of April 30. Following requests from corporations, however, the commission extended this twice: first until June and then up to September 30.