A commissioner’s priorities
Credit to Author: KELVIN LESTER LEE | Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2019 16:22:36 +0000
Several months after being appointed as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last February, and after attending/participating in a series of En Banc meetings, engaging with several departments of the SEC and immersing myself personally and professionally in the job, I have determined what I hope to focus on as a commissioner.
I am reproducing below excerpts of a speech which discussed my priorities as SEC commissioner. I hope you will allow me to use this column to elaborate on these priorities. I thought it may be of interest to the public:
First, on corporate registration, I want to help spearhead a possible new Company Registration System of the SEC in my capacity as supervising commissioner of the SEC’s Information and Communications Technology Department that will specialize and conform to the present SEC registration rules, as well as the Revised Corporation Code. We are already getting in touch with some of the best IT providers for this and I do hope this will be the start of a new and effective system for the SEC to fully serve the public.
Second, I want to take a closer look at financial technology (fintech), and to ensure its compliance within the appropriate regulatory framework. Fintech innovations are already sweeping the globe, introducing substantial changes in the banking and credit business and other related sectors. Regulators, like us at the SEC, recognize the manifold benefits that fintech may potentially offer to Filipinos. However, regulators must remain vigilant by ensuring a regulatory framework which will evolve alongside the digital transformation caused by the fintech revolution.
Third, as supervising commissioner of the SEC’s Corporate Governance and Finance Department, I also want to focus on sustainability reporting and expand its application and implementation, as embodied in the recently released Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for Publicly-Listed Companies (PLCs), through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 4, Series of 2019. The said guidelines mandate that PLCs submit a sustainability report as part of their annual report each year. The sustainability reporting guidelines for PLCs define sustainability reporting as an organization’s practice of reporting publicly on its significant economic, environmental, social and governance impacts, in accordance with globally accepted standards.
Fourth, I also want to strongly support collective investment schemes in the country, specifically, mutual funds. The Philippine mutual funds market is now ranked 9th in Asean. I want to help improve this ranking and help them and our economy grow.
Fifth, with the dangers and red flags of illegal investment schemes such as Ponzi schemes, I would also like to actively implement, alongside my fellow commissioners, SEC’s anti-investor fraud efforts against illegal investment schemes. As part of SEC’s massive efforts to stop such schemes, SEC data show that from January to July 2019, there were at 39 entities issued with advisories, 7 with cease and desist orders and 3 with revocation orders.
Finally, as co-chairman of the SEC Committee on Memorandum Circular/s (MCs) To Operationalize Revised Corporation Code (RCC) Provisions, I want to actively participate in studying and creating MCs to operationalize the RCC. Some MCs we have already issued or are in the process of drafting are:
• MC No. 13 s. 2019 (Amended Guidelines and Procedures on the Use of Corporate and Partnership Names);
• MC No. 07 s. 2019 (Guidelines on the Establishment of a One Person Corporation (OPC);
• The Proposed Guidelines on the Number and Qualifications of Incorporators under the RCC;
• The Proposed Guidelines on the Revival of Expired Corporations (Pursuant to Section 11 of the RCC);
• The Proposed Guidelines on Corporate Term; and
• The Proposed Guidelines on the Conversion of an Ordinary Stock Corporation into OPC.
I hope this will give the public a good idea on what my focus will be while I am at the commission. Rest assured that we, at the commission, are working hard to enact change that will be good for
the business sector, the general public and the country.
Kelvin Lester K. Lee is a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The views and opinions stated herein are his own. You may email your comments and questions to oclee@sec.gov.ph.
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