Securities and Exchange Commission (Philippines)

See Securities and Exchange Commission (disambiguation) for other similarly named organizations in other countries

The Securities and Exchange Commission (Filipino: Komisyon sa mga Panagot at Palitan, commonly known as SEC) is the agency of the Government of the Philippines responsible for regulating the securities industry in the Philippines. In addition to its regulatory functions, the SEC also maintains the country's company register.

An agency within the Office of the President, the SEC is currently headquartered in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila.

History

The SEC was created by Congress of the Philippines in 1936 as part of the Securities Act (#83). This occurred just two years after the United States Congress created the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The first commissioner of the SEC was Ricardo Nepomuceno. The SEC was not in operation during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, but was restored in 1947.

Composition

Since 1981, the SEC has five commissioners. The current commissioners are:^[1]

• Teresita J. Herbosa (Chairperson, appointed 2011)
• Manuel B. Gaite (appointed 2009)
• Antonieta F. Ibe (appointed 2012)
• Ephyro Luis B. Amatong (appointed 2014)
• Blas James G. Viterbo (appointed 2014)

Past commissioners included (incomplete list):

• Manuel G. Abello (chairman, 1981-1986)
• Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. (chairman, 1995-2000)
• Fe Barin (chairwoman, 2004-2011)^[2]
• Lilia R. Bautista (chairwoman, 2000–2004)^[3]
• Jesus E. Martinez (2002–2009)^[4][5]
• Raul Palabrica (2005-??)
• Thaddeus Venturanza (2006–2009)
• Juanita Elegir-Cueto (2001-2014)
• Eladio Jala (2009-2014)

The SEC has two principal departments: (1) prosecution and enforcement and (2) supervision and monitoring.

Functions

Its major functions include registration of securities, analysis of every registered security, and the evaluation of the financial condition and operations of applicants for security issue.^[6]

The functions of the SEC are defined in Section 5 of the Securities Regulation Code, and include the following major areas:

• Supervision over all registered business entities in the country, including suspensions and revocations of their registrations
• Policymaking with regard to the market in securities
• Control over and approval of security registration statements
• Power to investigate violations of securities laws and to impose sanctions for such violations
• Power to issue subpoenas, punish for contempt, and issue cease and desist orders in furtherance of its law enforcement mission

See also

• List of financial regulatory authorities by country
• List of company registers

References

External links

• Official web site
• SEC Citizen's Manual
• Securities Regulation Code