Aquino hopeful successor will continue digital innovations

MANILA, Philippines — Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Emilio Aquino is hopeful that his successor will continue the digital initiatives implemented under his term which helped improve the country’s business environment.

“I’m hoping and praying that we will have somebody who is also open-minded and will be adopting the digital-first priority as part of his or her leadership,” said Aquino, whose seven-year term as SEC chairperson ends on June 6, 2025.

“There are a lot of risks facing our investors, we have to be mindful and sensitive to all changes. We’re trying to build up a tradition of reforms innovation in this agency,” he said.

Aquino, however, said that he is also open for a possible reappointment.

“All good things must come to an end. But it’s up to the boss. I’m just doing my thing. I’ve had my time, I’ve had my chance so it’s really up to them,” Aquino said.

“We gave our all. Although there are still a lot of things that we can still do,” he said.

Aquino, who assumed office as SEC chairman in 2018, considers organizational development as his biggest achievement under his term as SEC chairperson.

As chairperson, Aquino crafted the SuperVision 2025 at the start of his term to serve as the commission’s guide in its goal of transforming the country’s corporate sector and capital market to be among the best in Southeast Asia.

He also accelerated the commission’s digital transformation as a tool to achieve his vision, especially during the pandemic, to ensure uninterrupted services for its stakeholders.

The transformation has led to the launch of three waves of digital innovations starting in 2021 to enable online company registration, reports filing and payment transactions.

To further reinforce its efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the country, the SEC has again introduced six new digital platforms and a modern data center aimed at enhancing the delivery of its services to the public.

The commission yesterday unveiled the fourth wave of its digital initiatives as well as officially inaugurated the SEC Data Center to support the expansion of its digital tools.

The SEC Data Center is an in-house facility that contains the records, applications and servers that will make services faster, more secure and easier to access.

The data center will provide secure, scalable and reliable infrastructure to support the SEC’s digital systems.

“Over the past few years, the SEC has committed to pursue innovation, in line with the thrust of the Marcos administration to go digital for more efficient delivery of services to the public,” Aquino said.

“Our push for digitalization – a core component of sustainability – allows us to fulfill our mandate under the Ease of Doing Business Act. By relying on technology, the SEC makes its services easier, faster and more secure, thereby satisfying the demand for a more efficient system aligned with local and international regulatory standards,” he said.

To improve transparency in beneficial ownership disclosures, the SEC’s newly launched Hierarchical and Applicable Relations and Beneficial Ownership Registry (HARBOR) will allow authenticated authorized filers to securely submit and update beneficial ownership data.

By removing the need for the manual management of beneficial ownership information, the SEC said that the system would reduce delays and errors, enabling the provision of faster and more reliable data to businesses, regulators and government agencies.

HARBOR will also contribute to preventing the misuse of corporations for illegal activities, as part of the government’s mission to keep the Philippines out of the gray list of global watchdog Financial Action Task Force.

Leveraging blockchain technology, the SEC Verification of Electronic Records and Information Trust and Authentication System or VERITAS is targeted to improve document credentialing by allowing multiple authorized parties to approve and sign corporate documents, such as board resolutions and compliance reports, in real time.

Meanwhile, the SEC Electronic Exceptional and Alternative Submission Environment or EASE will serve as an alternative platform that will cater to the submission of reportorial requirements by corporations under dispute status and are temporarily barred from using their Electronic Filing and Submission Tool accounts to submit annual reports.

To boost regulatory compliance, the new Electronic Workbench and Analytics Technical Computing HUB or eWATCH will notify corporations of the deadline for filing of reportorial requirements and flag them for late and non-submission.

The SEC said that by providing access to corporations’ compliance status, the digital tool aims to improve the compliance rate on the submission of annual reports, helping them avoid penalties and fostering a culture of accountability.

The fourth wave also includes two internal systems that will improve the efficiency of the commission’s workflows.

Source: The Philippine Star