Arthaland f ined for not updating website

ARTHALAND Corp. said it has paid the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) P130,000 for failing to comply with its website template guidelines.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday, the listed niche property developer said it had been alerted by the corporate regulator on Tuesday about failing to update its website in accordance with its guidelines.

“In its letter dated 10 January 2020 (copy received on 14 January 2020), the (SEC) found the corporation not having updated its website within the deadline prescribed in compliance with the SEC Prescribed Website Template (SEC Memorandum Circular No. 11, Series of 2014) and directed it to pay a penalty of P130,000 within 10 days from receipt of said letter,” it said.

The penalty was paid by Arthaland on Thursday.

SEC Memorandum Circular No. 11, Series of 2014 requires publicly listed companies to provide a list of items in their respective websites such as company backgrounds, corporate governance manuals, board committees, company disclosures, press materials and investor relations programs.

The SEC said the template for websites is part of its initiatives to “promote a better corporate governance environment for publicly listed companies.”

The required information uploaded on websites must stay for five years. The circular said this is a minimum requirement for the websites and “any item/s could be added or removed therefrom any time the need arises.”

Shares in Arthaland at the stock exchange inched up 1.15% to close at P0.88 each on Thursday.

The company is currently on a five-year plan to expand its portfolio by five times to a gross floor area of a little over 500,000 square meters by 2024. Its earnings in the first nine months of 2019 jumped to P647.36 million from P75.64 million in the year prior. —