EXCLUSIVE: More foreign investment with streamlined SEC registration
By Monsi A. Serrano
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is on track to surpass last year’s record-high number of business registrations as it reaps the benefits of digital transformation launched during the pandemic, SEC Director for Records Atty. Gerry Del Rosario told THEPHILBIZNEWS in an exclusive interview.
Speaking from the SEC’s new headquarters in Makati, Del Rosario highlighted how the Covid-19 crisis became a turning point for the Commission, prompting major reforms in its registration system.
“Before the pandemic, we were still largely manual,” he recalled. “But under Chairman Emilio Aquino’s leadership, we re-engineered our processes. We hired IT experts, digitized our services, and launched automation initiatives that have significantly improved efficiency.”
In 2024 alone, the SEC registered over 52,000 new partnerships and corporations. For 2025, Del Rosario revealed that from January to May, nearly 21,000 entities have already been registered—setting the stage to break last year’s record.
Central to the SEC’s transformation is the eSECURE system, an identity verification platform designed to prevent fraudulent incorporations and ensure data integrity. Using the Philippine National ID system or two valid government-issued IDs, applicants undergo a liveness check to confirm authenticity.
“We’ve seen cases where individuals deny any involvement with a corporation, even if their name, TIN, or IDs appear in documents,” Del Rosario said. “eSECURE addresses that by making identity verification mandatory before registration.”
Digital registration has also eliminated the need for physical notarization or multiple printed copies, thanks to system-generated QR codes that serve as a digital signature. “It’s now a fully paperless process,” he noted.
Foreign investors get their own ‘green lane’
To boost foreign direct investment, the SEC established a dedicated division, the Foreign Investment Registration Station, for companies with over 40% foreign equity, as well as branch and representative offices.
“All foreign registrations now go through a single, specialized lane,” Del Rosario explained. “This is part of President Marcos Jr.’s push to provide a ‘red carpet, not red tape’ experience for investors.”
With apostille and consular authentication often proving cumbersome for foreign applicants, SEC’s digitized system now accepts online submissions with passport verification—another step toward ease of doing business in the Philippines.
(Apostille is an international certification that verifies the origin of a public document, such as a birth certificate or a power of attorney, for use in another country.)
The SEC’s innovation has not gone unnoticed globally. The Philippines was again recognized by the Corporate Registers Forum (CRF) for innovation in corporate credentialing. The awarding ceremony will take place in October this year.
“This is our second win,” Del Rosario said. “We’re proud to be at the forefront of registry modernization in the region.”
Del Rosario assured both local and foreign investors that the SEC remains committed to reform and efficiency.
“We now have 14 regional offices, and all are ready to process your applications quickly and securely,” he said. “We want your first step in doing business in the Philippines—your company registration—to be a pleasant one.”
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