THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Friday that it would be working closely with economic czar Frederick Go to advance reforms beneficial to both businesses and the economy.
"We are united in achieving President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s vision of a digital economy, powered by a strong and robust business sector that can uplift the lives of our fellow Filipinos," SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino said in a statement.
The partnership with the administration's economic team will help deepen the capital market, promote sustainability, protect investors and improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines, he added.
Aquino also expressed confidence that these initiatives would "meaningfully contribute to the country's progress."
The SEC chairman had a meeting with Go, the special assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, to discuss proposed reforms and present the corporate regulator's priority plans and programs.
Go, who took his oath of office earlier this month, has authority over the National Economic Development Authority; the Budget, Finance and Trade departments; and their attached agencies.
"Secretary Go lauded the SEC for its digital transformation initiatives aligned with the Marcos administration's thrust for [the] digital economy and e-governance, as well as for the capital market reforms it rolled out to boost the capital markets," the regulator said.
Last year, the SEC fast-tracked public offering applications by implementing a 45-day processing period and clarifying the number of years of financial information required.
In 2021, it launched the SEC Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Corporation and a subsystem, One Day Submission and Electronic Registration of Companies, which shortened the registration process from 34 days to three days.
The commission reported that company registrations as of end-November 2023 reached a total of 46,445, surpassing the previous record of 42,936 for the full year 2022.
Aquino has said that the turnout was due to the SEC's "fierce" campaign for digital transformation in the last five years.