SEC RELAXES RULES ON FUNDRAISING VIA CAPITAL MARKET
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has relaxed its rules for companies seeking to raise funds in the capital market.
In a statement on Thursday, the SEC said it issued Memorandum Circulars (MC) 13 and 14 series of 2023 on September 12 and 21, respectively, to amend Annex C of Rule 12 of the 2015 Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).
In particular, Annex C of SRC Rule 12 details the non-financial information that must be disclosed in the registration statements filed with the SEC by corporations issuing securities such as shares of stock, corporate bonds, and commercial papers in order to raise capital.
Part III, Paragraph A, Subparagraph 2(a) of Annex C directs a registrant to discuss its “financial condition, changes in financial condition, and results of operation for each of the last three fiscal years” under the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of its prospectus.
The corporate regulator said the issuance of MC 13 “clarifies that registrants are required to disclose financial information for only two comparative periods for the last three fiscal years.”
For instance, financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, must contain line items showing comparative balances only for December 31, 2022, and December 31, 2021, according to the SEC.
Moreover, the financial statements must contain line items for the comparative balances only for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020.
The SEC said MC 14 relaxes the requirement for a registrant to provide mitigating factors in the Risk Factors section of its prospectus, making the disclosure optional.
This, as Part I of Annex C directs, requires a registrant to provide a description of its business, including a discussion of major risks involved in the company and its subsidiaries.
The corporate regulator said MC14 amends the said provision by stating that “[t]he company may include disclosure of the procedures to identify, assess, and manage such risks.”
Further, Paragraph C, Part VI of Annex C, has been amended such that “[t]he registrant may indicate measures to mitigate the risks” related to its business.
Such risks include factors that make the offering speculative or risky, such as the absence of an operating history, a lack of profit from recent operations, a poor financial position, or a lack of market for the registrant’s securities, according to the SEC.
“The streamlined procedures are part of the Commission’s efforts to encourage more companies to tap the capital markets for their business expansion needs,” said SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino.
“The SEC will continue to find more ways to make the registration of securities and securing a license to sell such securities easier, which will also translate to more investment opportunities for the public,” added Aquino.
The SEC also shortened the settlement cycle from three days to two days after the trade date by amending the 2015 Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code, through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 11, Series of 2023.
The corporate regulator has also empowered funding portals to act as registrars of qualified institutional and individual buyers, which eliminates the need for these portals to use third-party institutions to assist potential investors with their applications as qualified buyers. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
This article SEC relaxes rules on fundraising via capital market was originally published in GMA News Online.
2023-09-28T14:04:47Z dg43tfdfdgfd
