The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is working with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on a long-term blueprint to overhaul the country’s capital market, with reforms eyed to widen access to funding, boost liquidity, and lift the country’s standing among Southeast Asian markets by the end of the decade.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, SEC chairman and CEO Francis Lim said the Philippine Capital Market Master Plan will consolidate the regulator’s ongoing and planned reforms into a long-term strategy for developing a deeper and more competitive domestic market.

Progress made in reducing regulatory friction

“We have made progress in reducing regulatory friction, but there are still structural barriers that prevent businesses from starting faster and companies from tapping the capital market more efficiently,” Lim said.

“Our next task is to address these barriers and build a market that is easier to access, more liquid and more competitive,” he added.

Among the measures being pursued are separate regulatory frameworks for debt and equity offerings, market-making rules for listed securities, a review of margin trading regulations and possible changes to the Personal Equity and Retirement Account or PERA framework.

The SEC is working with the World Bank to overhaul the public offering framework by separating requirements for debt and equity securities.

The review seeks to make disclosure requirements more proportionate to the type and risks of securities being offered, potentially making it easier for companies to tap the capital market for funding.

The regulator is also working with the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on a market-making framework for publicly listed securities to spur trading activity and improve liquidity.

Margin trading rules are likewise under review as another mechanism to increase market liquidity.

Lim is also looking at possible refinements to PERA to make the program more attractive to employers and employees and encourage more Filipinos to participate in the capital market.

“A deeper capital market requires not only more issuers and more investment products. We also need Filipinos who understand how to save, invest, and participate in the market responsibly,” Lim said.

The SEC has submitted a proposed Financial Literacy Bill seeking to make financial literacy a core subject in secondary education.

A technical working group of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture has prepared a report endorsing the proposal for committee approval.

The master plan builds on reforms already introduced by the regulator, including a five-year shelf registration framework, tiered minimum public ownership requirements, expanded real estate investment trust rules, Sukuk regulations and Southeast Asia’s first Green Equity Guidelines.

The SEC has also widened financing channels for smaller enterprises through crowdfunding and sector-specific programs covering hospitals, agribusinesses and other priority industries.

On top of these, the regulator is proposing a One Business Start Date that would allow companies to begin commercial operations once they secure SEC registration or another primary regulatory license while completing other government permits in parallel.

The SEC has also expanded digital services and imposed internal processing timelines, including a “deemed approved” policy for applications that exceed prescribed periods.

It reduced fees for corporate document requests by a cumulative 62.5 percent from 2023 rates, generating around P211 million in savings as of June.

Micro, small and medium enterprises received about P148.63 million in discounts on registration and capital-related transactions, while businesses secured P3.72 million in relief from assessed penalties.