美国证券交易委员会针对新冠疫情风险披露发布公开声明

2020 02/24

2020年2月19日,美国证券交易委员会(“SEC”)与美国上市公司会计监管委员会(“PCAOB”)共同发布了一份关于新型冠状病毒疫情(“新冠疫情”)的公开声明(“声明”)。该份声明是截至目前SEC关于引导在美上市公司就新冠疫情相关风险进行披露所作最全面的声明。声明主要包含如下内容:

On February 19,2020,U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission(“SEC”)and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board(“PCAOB”)jointly released a public statement(the“Statement”)addressing the event of 2019 novel coronavirus(“Coronavirus”).Such Statement is the most extensive to date in terms of guiding how U.S.-listed public companies should disclose Coronavirus related risks.Key elements contained in the Statement are:

01 证券发行人需要根据相关会计标准和SEC一般政策,考虑在公司财务报表附注中就新冠疫情所引发的后续事件进行潜在信息披露。根据前述政策规定,在超出证券发行人控制的情形下,如经适当审查和履行注意义务后证券发行人仍无法按时完成备案的,SEC可以对备案截止期限作适当放宽。

SEC especially emphasizes over the need to consider potential disclosure of subsequent events caused by Coronavirus in the notes to the financial statements in accordance with guidance included in the relevant accounting standards and SEC general policy.According to relevant provisions of policy mentioned in the previous sentence,appropriate relief from filing deadlines would be granted in situations where,in light of circumstances beyond the control of the issuer,filings cannot be completed on time with appropriate review and attention.

02 SEC在声明中指出,发行人如何为新冠疫情所引发的不确定性制定计划,以及如何应对新冠疫情相关事件都将可能对投资决策产生重大影响,SEC敦促发行人与其审计委员会和审计师合作,在当前环境下确保其财务报告、审计和审查流程尽可能稳健并符合相关要求。

SEC notes in the Statement that how issuers plan for the uncertainty caused by Coronavirus and how they choose to respond to the related events as they unfold can be material to an investment decision,and SEC urges issuers to work with their audit committees and auditors to ensure that their financial reporting,auditing and review processes are as robust as practicable in light of the circumstances in meeting the applicable requirements.

03 证券发行人如对与新冠疫情潜在影响有关报告事项(包括对后续事件的潜在信息披露)存有疑问,SEC也将延续其在2020年1月30日发布声明中的立场,对与新冠疫情现有和潜在影响有关的信息披露事项进行监控并在合适的范围内向证券发行人和其他市场参与者提供引导和咨询并给予帮助。

If issuers have questions regarding the reporting of matters related to the potential effects of the coronavirus,including potential subsequent event disclosure,SEC will continue take the stance it stated in the statement issued on January 30,2020 that SEC would monitor,and to the extent appropriate,provide guidance and other assistance to the issuers and other market participants regarding disclosures related to the current and potential effects of the coronavirus.

对于在美国上市的中国公司和在中国有运营业务的美国上市公司以及非美国公司来说,当前新冠疫情管控措施和中国及周边地区旅行限制将对该等主体按时完成财务审计、财务报告,向SEC提交完整的公司报告和完成备案造成障碍。该等美国上市公司可向SEC申请延期提交财务报告。就公司年报来说,SEC允许最长15个自然日的延期;对于公司季报,该等期限则最长可延长5个自然日。并且,在特定情况下,如果有足够多的公司受到特定事件和情况的影响,SEC也可能为该等受影响的主体推迟截止日期或豁免特定受影响公司使其免于遵守证券法项下的某些规定。在延期之外,SEC也可能允许相关主体使用部分或不完整的备案文件来完成相关备案。相关上市公司也可参考SEC在2018年美国发生飓风时采用的救济措施来规划应对本次因新冠疫情所产生的影响。

As for China and China-based,U.S.exchange-listed,public companies,and U.S.listed public companies and foreign-based,U.S.exchange-listed companies that have operations in China,control measures currently enforced for Coronavirus and travel restrictions in China and its surrounding areas has become barriers for them to complete their financial auditing and reporting,submit complete corporate reports and complete filings with SEC.Such U.S.listed public companies can obtain a deadline extension for financial reports with SEC who permits an extension of as many as 15 calendar days for annual reports and as many as five calendar days for quarterly reports.SEC may also,under certain circumstances,issue deadline extensions for affected parties if there are enough companies that are affected by an event or circumstances or may exempt certain affected companies from some provisions of the relevant securities laws.In addition to deadline extension,SEC could also allow for partial or incomplete filings to be used by the relevant parties.Relevant parties may also refer to the relief treatment provided by SEC for Hurricane Michael in 2018 to formulate plans coping with the effect resulted from Coronavirus.