SEC AMNESTY PROGRAM DEADLINE EXTENDED!

By: Farida B. Honrado, CPA

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the deadline for applications for amnesty for late and non-filing of annual financial statements (AFS), general information sheets (GIS), as well as non-compliance with SEC Memorandum Circular No. 28, series of 2020 (Requirement for Corporations, Partnerships, Associations, and Individuals to Create and/or Designate E-mail Account Address and Cellphone Number for Transactions with the Commission) (MC28). 

Eligible companies have until June 30 to finish their amnesty applications and we encourage all eligible companies to not miss the chance to avail lower fines and penalties.  

Below are the reduced rates for non-compliant and suspended/revoked corporations: 

To check who is eligible to avail the amnesty program, go to http://amnesty.sec.gov.ph/ and input your company name or SEC registration number. 

This extension was granted through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 6, Series of 2023, entitled “Amendment of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 2, Series of 2023, and Extending the Deadline of Amnesty Applications” (SECMC No. 6-2023 or the “Circular”) which is issued last April 28, 2023, and took effect immediately following its publication in newspapers nationwide. 

The deadline for amnesty applications was extended for another two months, until June 30 from the previous deadline when the amnesty program was initially launched in March 2023. Companies availing of the amnesty will now be given 90 calendar days, instead of 45 days, from the date of payment of the fixed amnesty amount to submit and comply with the complete and correct set of requirements for the amnesty application. 

The amnesty program is part of the Commission’s efforts to encourage its supervised entities to comply with their reportorial requirements under Republic Act No. 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines which was initially launched last March for non-compliant corporations or for those whose certificates of registration have been suspended or revoked. 

The objective is to review and clean up the submissions of all regulated entities, enhance and organize the SEC’s database, encourage compliance, and deter violations of laws and current regulations. This will give all parties concerned more reasons to avail of the amnesty while there is still time and not to wait for the looming deadline. 

After the extended June 30 deadline, the SEC will implement an updated scale of fines and penalties for the late filing and non-filing of the covered reportorial requirements effectively.  

The content is for general information purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for specific advice. 

 
References: 

SEC Memorandum Circular No. 2, Series of 2023 

SEC Memorandum Circular No. 6, Series of 2023

Farida B. Honrado, is a Certified Public Accountant and currently the Team Leader of the Government Processing Department of G. Pagaspas Partners & Co., CPAs, an affiliate full-arm accounting firm of TaxAcctg Center and a member of Allinial Global, ranked as the second largest accounting association in the world by International Accounting Bulletin. She is currently handling company registrations (Domestic Corporation, Foreign Representative and Branch Office, Non-Stock Non-Profit Organization, One Person Corporation) and other corporate information updates (Amendment of AOI, Application for Security Deposit, Transfer of Address, Business Permit Renewal) of several global and local clients to all government agencies in PH like SEC, BIR, LGU and other government agencies.