Press Conference by ASO Taro, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 11:58 am to 12:06 pm)

[Opening remarks:]

In view of the declaration of a state of emergency on April 7, many companies whose fiscal years end on March 31 will no doubt be finding it extremely difficult to settle their accounts and conduct audits in a timely manner. With this in mind, we must ensure that companies and audit firms have enough time to complete their settlement and audit operations. Therefore, while the submission deadlines for annual securities reports and quarterly reports are stipulated in the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, by revising the Cabinet Office Ordinance, we will be extending it across the board to the end of September; companies will not be required to submit extension requests. However, this does not mean that filings must be held off until September. The new deadline is the end of September, but filings may of course be made in April, May, June or July. In any case, the deadline will be the end of September.