Regulatory Reporting: Who Reports and When
Ongoing, periodic regulatory reporting for public companies is governed by the Georgian law on the securities market. This regime differs from one-off filings on suspicious transactions: here the subject is annual and semi-annual reports submitted to the National Bank and published on a fixed calendar. The three obligations of reporting — preparation, submission to the National Bank and publication — are established by the law as a single row, and each of them is imposed on the issuer separately.
An issuer of public securities must prepare, submit to the National Bank of Georgia and publish an annual report; an issuer of public debt or public equity securities must also prepare a semi-annual report.
The Annual Report: Content and Deadline
The annual report is drawn up for every financial year and must contain financial statements confirmed by an auditor, a management report, and a declaration by the issuer’s responsible persons that the reports are complete, correct and fair. It is prepared and audited in the manner established for a public-interest entity by the accounting law.
Preparing the annual report is necessary from the very first financial year in which the issuer became public. It is submitted and published after the end of each financial year, but no later than 15 May; where the financial year differs, the National Bank may set a different deadline, but no later than 4 months after the end of the financial year.
The annual report within this term is also submitted and published by an issuer that became an issuer of public securities during the financial year — the calendar remains unchanged in that case as well.
The Semi-Annual Report and Accessibility
The semi-annual report covers the first 6 months of the financial year, as of 30 June, and contains semi-annual financial statements, an interim management report and the responsible persons’ declaration. It is submitted and published by 30 August of the current year; with a different financial year — no later than 2 months after the end of the period.
An issuer that became an issuer of public securities during the first 6 months of the financial year is likewise obliged to submit and publish its semi-annual report within this term.
The reports must remain publicly accessible for at least 10 years. The National Bank may at any time request additional information about the issuer or the report — to verify openness, clarify an entry or obtain new information — and may require the report’s correction. Information may be incorporated by reference to another document with a clearly identified source; the report is signed by the persons authorized to represent and by the supervisory-board chair, who are responsible for the accuracy of material information.