Digitalization to boost capital market – DOF

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to further boost the capital market through digitalization in order to contribute to overall economic growth.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the SEC should make the capital market more broad-based and inclusive through digitalization and strengthened corporate governance.

“I expect the SEC to fully harness the powers of new digital technologies to further improve monitoring, build trust and confidence of investors, protect the investing public, and better serve the nation,” Diokno said.

The finance chief also called on the SEC to ensure the provision of safe and secure financial and investment instruments for Filipinos.

Diokno said the SEC should be relentless in unmasking investment scams to protect investors and maintain trust in the country’s financial system.

“We expect an even more dynamic and feverish market activity,” he said.

Diokno likewise lauded the SEC’s digital transformation initiatives which allowed the market to continue functioning normally despite the pandemic.

To recall, the SEC developed the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Companies (eSPARC) and the One Day Submission and Electronic Registration of Companies (OneSEC), both for faster and easier registration of corporations.

So far, the eSPARC has processed over 70,000 applications for company registration, 7,000 of which were processed in OneSEC.

The Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC), on the other hand, enabled online payments of registrations and other transaction fees. It has so far catered to more than 30,000 transactions.