In a relief to listed companies amid the pandemic, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the timeline for submission of financial results for the quarter ended June, till September 15. As per the norms, the original deadline for submitting the financial results for the period ending June was August 14. This came as SEBI extended the timelines of several regulatory compliance norms including for brokers, depositories and share transfer agents till September 30 in view of the pandemic.
In a circular, the regulator said that it has received representations requesting extension of time for submission of financial results for the quarter or half year ended June 30, 2020, due to the shortened time gap between the extended deadline for submission of financial results for the period March -- July 31 -- and that for the period ending June, which was originally August 14.
"After consideration, it has been decided to extend the timeline for submission of financial results under Regulation 33 of the LODR Regulations, for the quarter/half year/financial year ended 30th June 2020, to September 15, 2020," it said.
It has asked the stock exchanges to bring the provisions of the circular to the notice of all listed entities and also disseminate on their websites.
Now depository participants can submit their yearly internal audit report (IAR) for half year ended March 31, 2020 by the end of September.
SEBI has eased the compliance requirement with regard to processing of demat request forms by issuer or registrar of share transfer agents (RTA) and depository participants (DP).
In general, processing of demat request forms by issuer or RTA needs to be done within 15 days, while the same for depository participants is within seven days. Now, with the latest decision, the period from March 23 till September 30 shall be excluded for computing the existing timelines for compliance.
Further, among other relaxations and extensions, the timeline for systems audit on an annual basis for the financial year ended March 31 has also been extended till September 30.
Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates said: "With businesses taking a massive blow on account of the pandemic, adhering to regulatory filing and disclosure compliance norms in a timely manner poses a grave challenge."
She was of the view that the timeline extensions are likely to accord much-needed relief to companies and their stakeholders.
Welcoming the relief for listed companies, Chandwani said: "The host of complications that the ongoing situation has roped in has made furnishing of financial results in the short period post the closure of this quarter a task arduous enough to be achieved by most listed entities despite the necessity under law."