By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated January 13, 2014 - 12:00am
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.
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