SEC suspends over 100K corporations

THE Securities a nd Exchange Commission (SEC) had suspended the corporate registration of over 100,000 corporations.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the SEC said its Company Registration and Monitoring Department suspended the certificates of incorporation of 117,885 corporations in an order dated February 16 “for failure to submit their annual reports for more than five years.”

Also suspended were those that commenced business but subsequently became inoperative for more than five consecutive years.

The SEC said registered corporations are mandated to submit reportorial requirements such as annual financial statements and general information sheets, pursuant to Republic Act 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines (RCC).

Under Section 177 of the RCC, the commission may place under delinquent status corporations found to have failed to file their reportorial requirements three times, consecutively or intermittently, within a period of five years.

Likewise, under Section 21 of the RCC, if a corporation commenced i ts business but subsequently became inoperative for a period of at least five consecutive years, the agency may, after due notice and hearing, place the corporation under delinquent status.

The SEC said it gave the suspended corporations a period of 30 days from the publication of the suspension order to avail of existing remedies under the laws, rules, and regulations implemented by the commission.

The corporate regulator said the issuance of the suspension order follows the conclusion of the SEC Amnesty Program, which ran from March to December 2023 and gave non-compliant and suspended or revoked corporations a chance to recover their good standing by paying the reduced fees.