Extensions to deadlines for publishing and filing annual accounts and additional FRC guidance

03/04/2020

In a combined approach, the FCA, London Stock Exchange and Companies House have announced a series of measures extending the deadlines for both the publication of financial results by listed companies and for filing audited accounts with Companies House for UK incorporated companies. Main Market listed companies will have an additional 2 months to announce their results while AIM listed companies can have an additional 3 months. The deadline for filing annual accounts with Companies House is extended by 3 months. Companies seeking to take advantage of these extensions should note any steps required to take advantage of the extensions. For listed companies in general, the FCA has also emphasised that notwithstanding the extensions to the publication deadlines, listed companies remain subject to the disclosure requirements under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) (and on AIM, AIM Rule 11). The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has also issued additional guidance for both companies and auditors. Main Market Listed Companies For companies with securities listed on the Main Market, the FCA has announced that it will not take any enforcement action (including not suspending their shares) provided their annual accounts are published within 6 months of the year end. The FCA also recommends against companies rushing to release preliminary results in the current climate and for investors not to draw any adverse inferences where companies make use of the extended period. The FCA’s requested moratorium on companies releasing preliminary statements of their annual results will end on 5 April 2020. AIM Listed Companies London Stock Exchange has followed this ...