The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) gave its approval on Friday 27 March to extended deadlines for the publication of 2019 annual financial reports for listed companies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, it acknowledges the difficulties encountered by issuers in the preparation of annual financial reports, including the difficulty of completing audits on time due to the coronavirus crisis.
Thus, ESMA calls on the competent national authorities to apply “forbearance powers toward issuers who need to delay publication of financial reports beyond the statutory deadline”.
Listed companies must publish an annual financial report within four months of the end of their financial year. For those with a fiscal year ending 31 December 2019, the deadline is 30 April 2020. However, ESMA is asking national authorities to grant these companies an additional two months.
For issuers that are required to publish half-yearly financial reports, ESMA recommends a one-month delay.
Nevertheless, the statement stresses that issuers must keep their investors informed of the expected delay in publication and that the requirements of the Market Abuse Regulation remain applicable.
ESMA further states that it will reassess the need to extend this grace period in the coming weeks. See the statement: https://bit.ly/3amPPOV (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)