SEC stands pat on hike in fees

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said its plan to increase registration and filing fees is justified but assured stakeholders that regulators would consider all of their issues and concerns.

The SEC led by its chairman Emilio Aquino met yesterday with representatives of the different business chambers. It is set to hold more meetings with business leaders regarding the issue.

The business groups which raised concerns on the new fees 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.

“We are not pressing it for now. We are mindful of the costs,” said Aquino, referring to high inflation that has translated to higher cost of goods and commodities.

He clarified that the proposed increase in fees was made public in August but there is no specific timetable yet as to its implementation.

“We will sort this out. We will consider all the comments,” Aquino said.

Aquino also said in raising the fees, the SEC looked at its peers globally.

“We also benchmarked with our neighbors. You have to look at best practices,” he said.

Under the SEC’s proposed fee hike, fees would for 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 Aquino, the business groups said the fees must be just and reasonable.

“We are aware that the current fee collections of the SEC already far exceed the cost of its operations. Proof of this includes 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,” the business groups said.

SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester Lee, for his part, said, “I think we can make a very good case for justifying the direction we’re going because it’s done very well. We have to laud our technical team who has worked on this for an excessively long time,” Lee said.