Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has directed all publicly listed companies to publish their financial statements on their official websites effective January 2025.
This is even as the Commission stressed the importance of transparency and timely disclosure of financial statements.
This was contained in a circular issued on Thursday by the SEC. It, however, warned that non-compliance with the directive would attract sanctions.
According to the Commission, the directive aims to ensure seamless public access to financial information. This, it said, is critical for making sound investment decisions by the public.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has observed that public companies file their periodic returns with the Commission and relevant securities exchanges without simultaneously publishing them on their websites.
“This omission is a contravention of Rules 39 and 41 of the Commission’s Rules and Regulations,” the circular stated.
SEC also noted that while public companies routinely submit their financial returns to regulatory bodies, many fail to make these documents accessible to the investing public via their websites.
The Commission, therefore, stressed that this lack of accessibility undermines investor confidence and violates disclosure requirements.
SEC highlighted that, “The rationale for the publication of periodic returns on their websites. It noted that it is to provide seamless access by the public to such information. Which would serve as a guide to making sound investment decisions.
“It is also important to reiterate in this regard that timely disclosures remain a key component of shareholders’ engagement.”
The Commission also warned that “any public company that fails to comply with the requirement of the referenced rules in respect of the filing of its periodic returns with the Commission, relevant securities exchanges, and the simultaneous placement of the same on its website would be penalized as appropriate.”
SEC, therefore, reiterated that the move is designed to enhance transparency. To bolster shareholder engagement and build investor confidence in the Nigerian capital market.
source: Punch
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