Companies' obligation to file financial statements

Article 41 of Law 222 of 1995 states that "...within the month following the date on which they are approved, a copy of the general purpose financial statements, together with their notes and the corresponding opinion, if any, shall be deposited at the Chamber of Commerce of the registered office. The Chamber of Commerce will issue copies of such documents to those who request them and pay the corresponding costs. However, the government entities exercising inspection, surveillance or control may establish cases in which a deposit is not required or an additional means of publicity is required".

In other words, with the purpose of publicizing the financial statements, Article 41 of Law 222 of 1995 states that all commercial companies must deposit in the Chambers of Commerce of their registered office a copy of the financial statements approved by the highest corporate body, together with the notes and report, as appropriate, so that the same Chamber of Commerce may later issue copies of said documents to those who request them.

Corollary to the above, Resolution 220-006909 of June 28, 2010, exempts from this obligation the companies supervised or controlled by the Superintendence of Companies that have submitted financial information within the terms, detail and opportunity required in the external circular issued annually by the aforementioned entity for such purpose. In other words, the companies that have the obligation to submit their financial statements to the Superintendence of Companies will not do so to the Chambers of Commerce.

It is necessary to remember that when the company makes the deposit of the financial statements 

1. These must be accompanied by a document signed by the legal representative requesting the deposit.

2. These can be submitted in copies.

3. The name of the financial statement to be deposited must be indicated in each one of them.

4. This document must indicate the date to which said statements correspond.

5. The financial statements must be signed not only by the legal representative, but also by the public accountant.

Thus, it is the legal representative who must deposit the general purpose financial statements with the corresponding notes and the opinion of the statutory auditor (if applicable) at the Chamber of Commerce of the company's domicile.

This office is ready to provide advice and support in this matter.