COVID-19: EXTENSION OF DEADLINES, MAURITIUS
In light of the extension of the COVID-19 sanitary curfew in Mauritius, the Mauritius Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Registrar of Companies and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius have extended deadlines for the filing of documents and publication of financial statements by listed companies.
It is to be noted that in some cases, late filings may attract monetary penalties. The following steps have been taken in order to ensure business continuity to mitigate the financial effects on licensees and companies during the confinement period:
Reporting obligations towards the FSC
The FSC issued a first communique on 30 March 2020 to its licensees allowing an extension of deadlines for filing and reporting obligations due for end of March 2020, provided all required submissions are made on or before 30 June 2020.
The FSC has now issued another communique on 16 April 2020 to inform all licensees and reporting issuers that it will apply further flexibility when monitoring compliance and will not charge administrative penalties in respect of late filing of financial statements and/ or annual reports due in April, May and June 2020, provided they are filed by the dates as outlined below:
- Entities registered as reporting issuers
|
Account type |
Year end |
Stipulated statutory time-frame for submissions (under the Section 88 of the Securities Act) |
No administrative penalties will be charged provided submission is effected by: |
|
Annual Reports/ Audited Financial Statements |
31 January 2020 |
Not later than 90 days of its balance sheet date |
31 July 2020 |
|
29 February 2020 |
Not later than 90 days of its balance sheet date |
31 July 2020 |
|
|
31 March 2020 |
Not later than 90 days of its balance sheet date |
31 July 2020 |
|
|
Quarterly Financial Statements |
29 February 2020 |
Not later than 45 days after the end of each quarter |
15 May 2020 |
|
31 March 2020 |
Not later than 45 days after the end of each quarter |
15 June 2020 |
- Entities, other than reporting issuers, licensed and authorised by the FSC
|
Account type |
Year end |
Stipulated statutory time-frame for submissions (as applicable under the Relevant Acts or FSC Rules) |
No administrative penalties will be charged provided submission is effected by: |
|
Annual Reports / Audited Financial Statements |
31 October 2019 |
Not later than six months of its balance sheet date |
30 June 2020 |
|
30 November 2019 |
Not later than six months of its balance sheet date |
30 June 2020 |
|
|
31 January 2020 |
Not later than 90 days or three months of its balance sheet date |
30 June 2020 |
|
|
29 February 2020 |
Not later than 90 days or three months of its balance sheet date |
30 June 2020 |
|
|
Interim Financial Statements |
29 February 2020 |
Not later than 45 days after the closing date of the interim period specified in FSC Rules |
30 June 2020 |
|
31 March 2020 |
Not later than 45 days after the closing date of the interim period specified in FSC Rules |
30 June 2020 |
Filings with The Stock Exchange of Mauritius Ltd (SEM)
The SEM has extended its deadlines for publication of financial statements required pursuant to the listing rules as follows
|
Accounts Type |
Period End |
Deadline as per listing rules |
Extended deadline |
|
Yearly |
31 December 2019 |
Not later than 90 days after balance sheet date |
31 May 2020 |
|
Quarterly |
31 March 2020 |
Within 45 days of the end of the period |
15 June 2020 |
Extension of filing by two months after confinement by the Registrar of Companies
Following an earlier communique to the effect that the approval and filing of financial statements, due during the confinement period be extended to one month from the date of the lifting of the confinement, the Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD) has now informed all stakeholders of a further month extension for filing of financial statements so that all such filings will only effectively become due two months from the date of lifting of the confinement.