Pandemic-hit listed firms told: Be transparent to investors

With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hitting local shores, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has required all publicly listed companies to disclose the impact of the contagion on their business operations alongside measures taken to mitigate risks.

In an advisory dated March 12, the SEC mandated all listed companies to file current reports (SEC Form 17-C) and disclose by noon of March 16 the risks and impact of the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus.

Some companies with operations in mainland China, such as fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp., Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) and SM Prime Holdings earlier discussed the impact of the virus and the measures they have taken.

But now that the pandemic has started to affect Philippine residents, resulting in the lockdown of Metro Manila, the SEC wants all companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to report all measures for the sake of the investing public.

“The requirement is pursuant to the state policy to ensure full and fair disclosure about securities and the duty of issuers to report every fact that would reasonably be expected to materially affect the decision of investors to buy, sell or hold securities,” the corporate regulator said.

Jollibee, for instance, disclosed in February that it had padlocked 14 of its restaurant outlets under the Yonghe King brand in central China’s province of Hubei, whose capital city of Wuhan is the epicenter of a glo­bal coronavirus pandemic.

At end-January, IMI disclosed that it had suspended operations in four factories in mainland China and put on hold business trips to and from high-risk regions.

In its March 11 update, IMI said its manufacturing facilities in Pingshan, Kuichong, Jiaxing, Chengdu and Suzhou were operating with substantial workforce capacity ranging from 85 percent to 98 percent. “To date, no IMI employee has been reported to have symptoms of the virus since restart of operations on Feb. 10, 2020. The company is also working with China local governments on possible incentives to support the business,” IMI said.

SM Prime, for its part, said on February it would keep open its shopping malls in seven sites in mainland China, but had adopted safety protocols. SM Supermalls announced similar safety measures for its malls in the Philippines.

Across the region, the aviation, tourism and retail sectors have taken the heaviest beating from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the SEC is likewise finalizing measures that will allow the use of remote communication in the regular and special meetings of corporations.

Upon approval of the guidelines, the SEC will immediately allow corporations to conduct meetings through remote communication or other alternative modes in order to consider and approve the necessary provisions in their bylaws or internal procedures in time for their forthcoming annual stockholders’ or members’ meetings. The PSE earlier reminded corporations to accommodate such remote participation during stockholders’ meetings.

The SEC itself has been holding meetings through remote communication, allowing for the participation of the directors of its extension offices in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.

The corporate regulator is also keen on extending the filing period for annual reports for affected corporations. This is similar to the conditional regulatory relief offered by the US SEC to certain publicly traded companies.

The SEC will give companies more time to submit their annual reports (SEC Form 17-A), inclu­ding annual financial statements, for the period ended Dec. 31, 2019, as well as quarterly reports (SE Form 17-Q) for the first three months of 2020 for publicly lis­ted companies.