The Securities and Exchange Commission’s contributions to the country’s economic transformation and growth was cited by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. who highlighted its efforts in promoting the ease of doing business.

In the President’s Report to the People 2022 to 2024, President Marcos recognized the digital initiatives of the SEC that have paved the way for a faster and more efficient company registration process both for Filipinos and foreign investors.

“The Philippine economy would not be where it is today without the help of our partners from the private sector, the academe, and international organizations. Our collaborators are critical in achieving our vision of bridging the digitalization gap and building a better-connected Philippines,” the report read.

Citing the newly launched SEC Zuper Easy Registration Online (ZERO), the report said “We also transformed the business registration of companies in the SEC in keeping with our commitment to propel the capital market and business sector.”

SEC ZERO enables the digital authentication of system generated forms through the Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP).

Together, SEC ZERO and eSAP remove the need for face-to-face transactions, wet signatures, and notarization, allowing Filipinos to incorporate their business anytime, and from anywhere in the world.

The Commission has also made corporate registration for foreigners faster with a dedicated lane for their application through SEC Foreign Investment Registration Station (FIRST) Green Lane Unit.

SEC FIRST focuses on the licensing of foreign and multinational companies and registration of domestic corporations under the Foreign Investments Act. Such applications will automatically be detected and referred to a dedicated station.

These online platforms form part of the third wave of SEC digital initiatives which also includes the Electronic Application for Modification of ENtity Data (eAMEND), an online portal for processing amendments to company information, and the Swift Corporate and Other Records Exchange (SCORE Protocol), which handles the requests of partner regulatory and enforcement agencies for corporate data.

“Truly, we have established platforms and measures for all Filipinos (here and abroad) and our foreign colleagues, to incorporate anytime and anywhere,” the report added.

The report also cited how the Commission’s Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) has reduced the processing time of registration of corporations and partnerships to one to seven working days, from the previous timeline of one to two months.

Company registrants may also process their application in just a day through the introduction of the One-Day Submission and Express Registration of Companies (OneSEC) tool.

The eSPARC and OneSEC have allowed the SEC to push company registration numbers to a record high in 2023, with a total of 49,506 firms, surpassing the record of 42,943 in 2022. The SEC is on track to hit another record this year, with 27,734 firms registered as of end-June.

“The eSPARC registration system is definitely a great improvement from the old way of registering corporations. We don’t need to physically line up to have our concerns addressed and registrants can also avail of the option of one-day processing as long as we can make sure that all details are correct,” Fiona Mae Corral-Bobis of ACES Comprehensive Business Solutions Co. said in a testimonial cited in the report.

The SEC also launched the Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC) to facilitate payment for registration and other transactions, and the Electronic Filing and Submission Tool (eFAST) for the submission of reportorial requirements.

“We thank the President for his continuous support to the Commission that allows us to deliver exemplary services to our clients and further improve the ease of doing business in the country,” Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said.

He added that, “The SEC will remain committed to providing innovative solutions that will enable a robust capital market and will support the growth of businesses and the Philippine economy.”