NextGen Day

Under the Duterte administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accelerated the implementation of its digitalization reforms to improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines and spur domestic enterprise growth through initiatives that allow companies to register, file reportorial requirements, and pay transaction fees online.

SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that one of the commission’s most recent digital transformation initiatives is the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC), which was launched last April and has processed 26,875 business registration applications online.

Under eSPARC, such online applications can be completed in as little as one day and as little as two minutes, he claimed.

According to Aquino, the quickest time for completing an eSPARC application after paying the registration cost was one minute and 14 seconds, while the longest delay was two hours and 37 minutes.

Dominguez had previously urged the SEC and other Department of Finance (DOF)-affiliated agencies to accelerate their separate digitalization plans before the pandemic broke out early last year.

Last year, Dominguez reinforced this demand for DOF offices, affiliated agencies, and enterprises to make the digital changeover in order to ensure the public’s continuing access to services throughout the pandemic and to prepare them for the transition to the new economy.

“Emil (SEC chairman): I believe you are on the correct track (Aquino). What you’ve accomplished in the last few years, I believe, is a metamorphosis of SEC into a true digital realm. Thank you very much. It’s fantastic, in my opinion “He mentioned this during a recent executive committee (Execom) meeting for state enterprises monitored by the Department of the Interior.

According to Aquino, eSPARC currently allows domestic stock organizations with a minimum of one incorporator and a maximum of 15 incorporators, board of directors, and stockholders to be registered.

OneSEC (One-day Submission and E-registration of Companies) is an eSPARC subsystem.

Because the majority of company information is pre-filed under OneSEC, organizations requesting registrations only require little data encoding online.

“The processing system used by OneSEC is entirely flawless. “It’s completely automated, with no human participation from the Commission, from the name verification of the proposed company name through the issuance of the Digital Certificate of Incorporation,” Aquino wrote in his report.

He added that the SEC’s Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC) was established on March 1 to make it easier to pay registration fees, fines, and other transaction fees to the SEC online using debit and credit cards, digital wallets, and other cashless payment options.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also launched the Electronic Filing and Submission System (eFAST) on March 15, which allows companies to submit their audited financial statements (AFS), general information sheets (GIS), sworn statements for foundations (SSF), the general form for financial statements (GFFS), special form for financial statements (SFFS), and other reportorial requirements electronically.

According to Aquino, the SEC has deployed its business investments and financial statistical system (CIFFS), which serves as the Commission’s central database and processing software for all data received from the companies it regulates.

More digitalization programs will be launched by the SEC, including the external auditors and auditing firm’s accreditation registry system (EAAFARS), integrated compliance monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement system (ICMEES), stress testing for capital market intermediaries, e-media hub, and complaints management system.

The SEC’s human resource management information system (HRMIS), online strategic performance management system (SPMS), integrated learning resource management system (ILRMS), asset management information system (AMIS), procurement monitoring and tracking system (PMTS), financial management information system (FMIS), and records management information system will all use digital technology, according to Aquino (RMIS).

According to Aquino, the SEC is proposing a budget of PHP2.6 billion over the next five years, from 2021 to 2025, to fully implement these digitalization measures.

In 2019, the SEC established several new units, including the PhilFintech Innovation Office, to ensure that the Commission keeps up with the country’s rapidly changing financial landscape, supports financial technology innovation, and strengthens its protection of investors and consumers from scams and unfair financial practices, according to him.

It also established an International Affairs Office to make cross-border regulation and the implementation of international best practices easier.

According to Aquino, the SEC will also establish the Office for the Advancement of Strategic Investments in SMEs (OASIS) to assist SMEs’ interests and encourage them to make initial public offerings (IPOs).

He also stated that the SEC will build more teams to secure its systems against intrusions and data leaks.

A Compliance Examination and Audit Unit, a Cybersecurity and Risk Mitigation Unit, a Cybercrime and Forensics Division, and a Corporate Communications and Investor Education Division are among the departments.

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