The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has extended the due date for the submission of the audited financial statements (AFS) for listed companies with 31 March year end by 60 days from June 29, 2020 to August 28, 2020. According to the NSE, the extension is necessary in order to ensure that the operations of companies are affected constrained by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The exchange had last month granted listed companies 60 days grace period for the submission of AFS for the year ended 31 December 2019.
“Further to the provisions of Rule 17:20 (g): Financial Reporting and Periodic Disclosure, Rulebook of the exchange, 2015, which states that an issuer shall not announce its interim accounts without having first filed its last AFS and any contravention of this provision shall be deemed to be an unauthorised publication under the Rules, a 60 day extension is also hereby granted for the submission of quarterly returns as set forth,” the exchange said in a notification last Friday.
The exchange waived the enforcement of the provision until further notice, noting that the waiver is necessary in order to ensure that the operations of listed companies are not inadvertently constrained at this time.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema had said following the activation of our Business Continuity Plan and transition to remote working and trading, the exchange has been resolute in its commitment to ensure that there are no disruptions to operations for any of its stakeholders.
“We have leveraged our existing digital assets to ensure there is continuous flow of information and activity in the market and are now looking at how we can deploy creative solutions to enhance our stakeholders’ experience during these unprecedented times,” he said.