Few listed financial institution report on time
KATHMANDU, DEC 5:
The financial institutions have delayed submitting first quarter financials to the capital market regulator citing the delay in preparing balance sheet due to one month extension of interest repayment by the central bank.
Among 159 financial institutions listed on Nepal Stock Exchange, only 110 submitted the report on time to the regulator. Only 26 per cent of the listed companies have submitted the first quarterly financials to the regulator on time. Among the 212 listed companies that need to submit their first quarterly financials, only 57 companies have actually been able to meet the deadline for submission — November 16. There are still 74 more that have not submitted financials while 81 companies submitted the report after the deadline.
"The financial institutions have delayed in preparing the financials due the confusion of including the fourth months' interest income within the quarterly report or not," informed director of the regulatory authority Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) Niraj Giri.
The central bank has allowed financial institutions to calculate interest collected in fourth month as deferred payment of first quarter.. According to the regulation, the listed companies need to submit the financials within a month after the completion of the quarter to the capital market regulator.
"Sebon has already sent letters asking them to comply with the regulation," he added.
Though a lot of listed companies publish their financials on the newspapers but not even half of them submit the report to Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) within stipulated time but do not fail to submit the reports to the central bank on time forcing the capital market regulator to introduce the provision of penalising the listed companies that chose to flout the rules.
"The provision for penalty will be included in Securities Exchange Act, that is being revised in order to incorporate the provision of regulation commodities market by Sebon," informed Giri.
However, it is not the first time that the companies have failed to submit the report to the Sebon in the designated time. The listed companies demonstrate their indiscipline repeatedly by disregarding the submission of their financials within the stipulated time. In the first quarter of the last fiscal year also, among 185 listed companies only 65 did submit the report within the time. In the second quarter also, among 192 listed companies in the secondary market that were supposed to submit the report to Sebon, 119 submitted their financial report within the time. In the third quarter, Sebon received the financials of only 103 companies among 203 listed companies that were supposed to submit the financials. In the last quarter of the past fiscal year too, only 93 companies among 202 listed ones submitted their financial report to the regulator.
Similar was the story of the year preceding last. Their negligence regarding the report submission and publication reflects their standing in terms of following proper code of corporate governance and eventually harm them.
