The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has directed the delisting of defunct retailer Uniwide Holdings Inc. from its roster of publicly listed companies effective Oct. 26 this year.
The bourse initiated the involuntary delisting of Uniwide last February, citing the retailer’s dissolution and continuing violation of disclosure rules.
In a memorandum issued by PSE president Ramon Monzon on Friday, he said the PSE had finalized its decision to delist the company. Monzon also announced the bourse would be imposing concomitant penalties.
Once involuntarily stricken off, a company cannot apply to be listed again within a period of five years. Directors and executive officers of the company are also disqualified from sitting as directors or executive officers of any company applying for listing within the same five-year period.
Buying and selling of shares outside an exchange are also more costly. Stock transactions on privately held companies are slapped with a 5-percent capital gains tax on gains that do not exceed P100,000, and 10 percent if in excess of P100,000.
On the other hand, when the stocks of that company are sold or bought through the stock exchange, the transaction is subject only to a stock transaction tax of 1 percent of the gross selling price or gross value in money of the stocks sold in lieu of the usual capital gains tax.
About 50.8 percent of Uniwide’s shares are held by the public, although trading on its shares have been suspended since Jan. 18, 2010.
In moving to delist Uniwide, the PSE had cited a number of violations, such as its failure to submit structured reportorial requirements, particularly annual reports from 2013 to 2015 as well as first to third quarter reports for the years 2014 to 2016.
The PSE also cited the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s order for the dissolution and liquidation of assets of all companies in the Uniwide group.
In issuing such dissolution order, the SEC said the Uniwide group had been “insolvent” since 2003.—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA