FCA and FRC statement on reporting deadlines

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have published a joint statement reminding issuers of the temporary relaxations to the usual timeframes for publication of the annual report and accounts in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the relaxations, issuers have an additional two months to finalise their annual report and accounts (so they must be published within six months of their year-end). In relation to half-yearly reports, the period for publication is effectively extended by one month, so the half-yearly report must be published within four months after the end of the half-year. The FCA has said that these temporary relaxations will, at a minimum, continue to be available to listed companies with financial periods ending before April 2021.

The statement also reiterates the importance of keeping the market up to date and that listed companies must continue to assess carefully what information constitutes inside information, recognising that the Covid-19 pandemic and policy responses to it may alter the nature of information that is material to a business’s prospects.

The London Stock Exchange has also published an edition of Inside Aim, confirming that temporary measures for reporting deadlines in relation to the publication of annual results and half-yearly reports for AIM companies also remain available.