Marcos may appoint new SEC commissioner

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is expected to appoint a new commissioner to the powerful five-member Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This as the term of SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester Lee lapsed last December. He is now on holdover capacity until the President names his successor.

Lee, who hails from Davao, was appointed in February 2019 by then president Rodrigo Duterte to fill up the remaining term of then SEC commissioner
Emilio Aquino, who in turn, was appointed also by Duterte as chairman and CEO of the SEC in 2018.

Marcos has the option to appoint Lee’s successor or to reappoint Lee to the same position. Currently, Lee serves as the supervising commissioner of the Markets and Securities Regulation Department and the Information & Communications Technology Department

As an SEC commissioner, he also spearheaded the establishment of the International Affairs and Protocol Division and the PhiliFintech Innovation Office, both of which he currently supervises.

Aside from this, he implemented the SEC’s Digital Transformation and Technology Modernization Roadmap which rolled out the many digital initiatives of the SEC.

He also conceptualized and drafted the SEC’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap which outlines the multiple sustainable finance and transition finance initiatives
of the SEC.

With Lee’s initiatives, the SEC has also taken steps to make it easier for companies to do their initial public offerings (IPO).

For instance,  the SEC has committed to complete the IPO process within 45 days.

Furthermore, the required financial information submitted by IPO applicants has been reduced to three years from four years.

In 2022, he was selected as a Lee Kuan Yew Senior Fellow in Public Service of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, and was recognized as a Blockchain Champion by the Blockchain Council of the Philippines.

Last year, he received multiple international awards for leadership and technological innovation.

As of this writing, Malacanang has not made any announcement regarding Lee’s expired term.

Aside from Lee and Aquino, Duterte also appointed SEC commissioners Javey Paul Francisco and Karlo Bello.