Impact of COVID-19 pandemics on financial reports publication deadlines
27. March 2020
The activities of issuers with respect to publication of regulated information (including financial reports), as well as powers and competence of Hanfa in this regard, are regulated by the Capital Market Act, and issuers are obliged to act in accordance with regulated information publication deadlines.
However, given the current situation caused by the coronavirus, Hanfa instructed all issuers (whose financial year ended on 31 December 2019) which, regardless of all their efforts, would not be able to publish their audited financial reports for 2019 and quarterly reports for Q1 and Q2 2020 within the legally prescribed deadlines, to promptly inform Hanfa and the public of the delay and reasons for the delay (in a way prescribed by the Capital Market Act) stating, to the extent possible, the anticipated date of the publication of the audited financial report for 2019, and quarterly reports for the first and second quarter of 2020.
Within the framework of its supervisory activities, Hanfa will take into account all the circumstances of each case of delay in the publication of audited annual reports for 2019 and quarterly reports for the first and second quarter of 2020, and, where justified, it will be governed by the ESMA Public Statement of 27 March 2020. (the Statement)
The Statement, in essence, announces that with respect to issuers which, due to difficulties caused by COVID-19 outbreak, may be prevented from publishing their annual and half-yearly reports for the financial year ending on 31 December 2019 or before 1 April 2020 at the latest, within deadlines set by national regulations (in the Republic of Croatia, by the Capital Market Act), national competent authorities shall not undertake supervisory measures in case of delay in the publication of such financial reports. This refers to delay period of two months for audited annual reports and of one month for half-yearly reports.
The Statement also stresses that issuers which delay the publication of their annual and half-yearly reports with respect to deadlines prescribed by national legislation (in Croatia it is the Capital Market Act) due to difficulties caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 are expected to promptly inform the national competent authority (i.e. Hanfa) and the market (by issuing a public notice in accordance with the Capital Market Act) and, to the extent possible, state the estimated report publication date.
The Statement also indicates that all issuers continue to be subject to the disclosure obligations laid down in Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulation, regardless of other information mentioned in this Statement.
The announcement and the full text of the Statement are available at ESMA website.
