Green lane at the Exchange

The door to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) was built for large companies. The PSE now counts 284 listed companies, following recent listings such as Mynt Inc.

In February 2026, when the count was 282, only 10 sat on the Small, Medium and Emerging Board and 272 on the Main Board. That is fewer than four in every hundred listed firms on the board designed for smaller issuers, in an economy where MSMEs make up more than 99 percent of enterprises.

The OECD’s 2024 Capital Market Review found that Philippine listing fees are relatively high and the fee structure more complex than in peer countries. Cost is one barrier. Process is the other. A company raising a modest sum still follows a path built around much larger offerings: registration with the SEC, a listing application with the PSE, a full prospectus, and continuing obligations. For a small enterprise, time and legal fees can weigh as heavily as the listing fee itself.

In August, the PSE, with the approval of the SEC, allowed the direct listing of preferred shares and cut the minimum offer for preferred share IPOs from P1 billion to P100 million, while the minimum number of stockholders fell from 1,000 to 100. That covers preferred shares. A company raising equity through common shares still faces the SME Board’s standard requirements.

The SEC has also moved on its side of the process. Under SEC Memorandum Circular 24, Series of 2026, applications for IPOs, follow-on offerings, direct public offerings, and the first tranche of shelf registrations must now be filed through the Online Application for Registration Statements, or OARS.

Applications are to be processed within 40 days from payment of the initial assessment fee, against the 45 days provided under Section 12.6 of the Securities Regulation Code. The regulator’s door is now digital. The exchange can build its counterpart.

That counterpart is a green lane at the PSE for qualified MSMEs on the SME Board. Eligibility could rest on the asset-size definition under the Magna Carta for MSMEs, using the same certification the SEC already requires for its fee discounts.

The lane would have five features. First, a single application, with the PSE and the SEC reviewing concurrently within a published timeline. Second, a short-form prospectus in a standard template.

Third, a flat, capped and published fee schedule. Fourth, offer-size and stockholder thresholds scaled to small raises. And fifth, continuing disclosure proportionate to size and risk.

The goal is not a shortcut. It is a credible way for the next generation of Philippine enterprises to raise capital at home, hire more workers, and grow into the corporations the market needs.

The SEC has opened its lane. The PSE can open its own, and the SEC stands ready to work with it.