SEC, business groups to meet over planned hike in filing fees

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will meet with business chambers that  raised concerns over its proposed increase in registration and filing fees.

The SEC said it is committed to hearing the side of the business community before implementing the new rates and schedule. It would be meeting with the concerned business groups today, Oct. 12 to address their concerns.

Among the business groups include the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Management Association of the Philippines, Chamber of Thrift Banks, Philippine Retailers Association, Philippine Franchise Association, Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors, Stratbase ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies, and  the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization Inc.

Under the SEC’s proposal,  fees would, for instance, increase to 1/4 of one percent of an entity’s authorized capital stock, but not less than P2,500 of the subscription price of the subscribed capital stock or whichever is higher.

In their Oct. 2 letter to SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino, the business groups said the fees must be just and reasonable.

“When the SEC increased its fees in 2017, stakeholders were able to show that the fees being collected by the SEC from stock market transactions alone were more than enough to fund SEC’s entire operations based on SEC’s requested appropriations from the GAA, which budget presumably is the cost of regulations. This does not yet include the myriad of other fees SEC charges to new and existing companies for various corporate actions and document requirements,” they said.

“We are aware that the current fee collections of SEC already far exceed the cost of its operations. Proof of this include the purchase of its own building in Makati CBD reportedly costing about P2.5 billion, in addition to about 90 commercial parking slots estimated at about P1 million per slot,” they said.

In response, the SEC said today’s meeting would  seek to unite the viewpoints of the Commission and its stakeholders toward ensuring that the new schedule of fees continues to advance the Marcos administration’s thrust of promoting business and capital formation in the country.

At the same time, the SEC said it has given stakeholders enough time to adjust, announcing the proposed revised schedule of fees and charges as early as August.

The SEC further notes “that the schedule of fees and charges was last updated in 2017, based on a proposal from 2014. This means that the current rates are based on operational and administrative costs prevailing almost 10 years ago.”

Meanwhile, the SEC said the fees and charges, provided under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 10, Series of 2023,  were imposed on certain IT-related services mostly provided through the SEC’s  newly launched digital systems, such as the SEC Application Program Interface (SEC API) and the Electronic SEC Education, Analysis, Research Computing Hub (eSEARCH).

Furthermore, the SEC said the fees and charges are aimed at supporting the SEC’s efforts in proactively addressing the needs of the corporate sector, giving the SEC sufficient leeway to introduce reforms and fund future innovations.