The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is targeting ₱170 billion in capital raising for the year, marking a more than 20 percent increase from the previous year’s ₱140 billion haul as regulators prepare to ease listing hurdles for tech giants and smaller enterprises alike.

PSE President Ramon S. Monzon said in an interview on Friday, Jan. 10, that the bourse is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on policy reforms designed to revitalize the local capital market.

These reforms include the recently-amended rules on real estate investment trusts, which expand REIT-able assets to various infrastructure projects such as tollways, airports, and telecommunications towers.

A cornerstone of this strategy is the anticipated initial public offering of GCash, the country’s dominant mobile wallet, alongside the imminent listing of PNB Holdings Corp.

The bourse is currently awaiting a ₱56 billion listing by way of introduction from PNB Holdings, which holds the real estate assets spun off from Philippine National Bank.

Monzon noted that the company has already filed its application. Because its shares were distributed to stockholders as property dividends, the firm possesses a sufficiently wide subscriber base to bypass a traditional IPO and list directly.

The listing pipeline also includes a projected ₱25 billion preferred share issuance from Globe Telecom Inc. While the PSE is eyeing approximately four IPOs for the year, the market’s focus remains squarely on GCash.

Monzon described the fintech firm as “the big one,” though its debut hinges on achieving a specific valuation sought by exiting strategic investors.

To accommodate large-scale listings like GCash, the SEC is moving to lower the minimum public ownership requirement to 12 percent for companies with a market capitalization exceeding ₱150 billion.

The adjustment is particularly relevant for GCash, where the existing share supply for an IPO is limited primarily to those looking to exit.

Beyond the blue chips, the PSE is also attempting to democratize access to the capital markets by halving the minimum IPO size for preferred shares to ₱500 million from ₱1 billion.

It also plans to reduce the minimum shareholder count to 200 from 1,000 to lower the barrier for smaller issuers.

Monzon further signaled a shift toward a more lenient regulatory environment to address concerns that punitive disclosure rules have deterred potential listings.

The Issuer Regulation Division is currently reviewing these rules to distinguish between critical price-sensitive information and minor administrative lapses.

The bourse may pivot toward issuing warnings rather than immediate fines for violations that do not impact stock prices, part of a broader effort to make the exchange less intimidating for private companies.